Deception and Disaster
by FeathersOfBlack
Summary: Harry never thought the one he'd fall in love with would be Draco Malfoy. But what can Harry do when they discover Draco is a Veela? How can he try to sort out his life when even his best friend stands in the way? HPDM slash, starts in sixth year, doesn't always follow books.
1. Potions gone wrong

AN: Alright, I've read so many fics, I just needed to write one of my own. This is the result. Comments and creative criticism are greatly appreciated. Please note that I do not have a beta for this fic, and some spelling mistakes will have escaped me. ( Darn little things )

Warnings: This is going to be a slash, shounen-ai, m&m, whatever you want to call it. That means: boys kissing boys. If that's not your cup of tea, I suggest you click the back button. Otherwise, enjoy.

Also, this will be rated M (mature) for further chapters.

Disclaimer: ( Don't we all love these? ) I don't own Harry Potter, or it's characters. That all J. K. Rowling's doing, Nope..I own nothing, I just take the characters out for joyrides! –evil grin-

Speech: "Like this"

Thoughts: '_Like this'_

PS: I should warn you now. I do try to go with the books, but some of my story will stray from that. So don't be surprised if something happens that was never mentioned in the books, or something that was mentioned in the books is the complete opposite. Mkay? It's my first time writing a Harry Potter fic, so although I will try my hardest to squash out the OOC ( at least for the first couple of chapters -grin- ) it will still show up.

* * *

Harry let out another miserable sigh, pushing his food around in his plate, not really eating any of it. The bushy-haired girl sitting across from him gave him a disapproving frown. 

" Harry, you have to eat something! You can't just go on starving yourself. You're already as thin as a twig." Hermione scolded him.

It was true, 'The-boy-who-lived' wasn't looking particularly alive today. The summer with the Dursleys had been devastating. Not only was Vernon drunk every waking minute, but also taking his anger out on Harry. Dudley had started beating and throwing him around as a hobby, even his aunt's treatment had gotten worse, though her's was just in ignoring the fact that the boy needed food to survive. He had hit his thinnest shape yet, and even after a few weeks in school was still always tiered and week, though he managed to hide that well.

The injuries he'd sustained were a different story altogether. Harry had healed all of the bruises and cuts that were visible to people, but he didn't have the energy or time to take care of the rest. Madam Pomfrey was out of the question, as she would surely asked how it happened. That was something he wasn't realy to have the school know yet. Long story short: His friends would have a heart attack if they saw him without his shirt on.

Other than that, he looked normal..well, in his idea of normal. Just..more fragile, and his eyes had acquired a hollow look. This summer had been the worst so far, and the fact that both his uncle and stepbrother had made it a hobby of hitting him had had quite an effect on him.

The absolute worst though, was that he couldn't tell anyone, no one would understand. Even if they would, it wouldn't help. No one could do anything against the Dursleys. At least, he had only one summer left with them and after that it would be over.

Harry sighed again. " Mionie. I'm fine, really. I'm just not hungry now..the thought of detention with Snape for two hours soft of ruined my appetite." he mumbled, groggily.

Ron gave his friend a pitying look, shaking his head slightly. " One of these days, Snape will be gone, there will be no homework, chocolate pie will be served every day and we will have justice. But until then, we're on our own. Luckily, we still have Quidditch."

Hermione harumpfed and lowered her gaze to her plate again, mumbling to herself about how the Griffindor would do good to pay more attention to his essays than fantasize about Quidditch.

With that, Harry pushed his plate away and stood up with a small groan. " Alright, I'm going..don't wait up. That sadistic creep won't be satisfied until I'm lying on the ground writhing in pain." he spat out, then turned and made his way out.

As he left the Great Hall, his eyes strayed briefly to the Slythering table where they landed on the blonde Malfoy, who looked like he was arguing with that girl, Pansy.

'_He looks good, with his hair down like that._' the boy thought to himself, before realizing what had happened and exactly who his thoughts were referring to. Shaking himself with a panicked look, he tore his gaze away from Malfoy.

He sped up his pace, heading quickly away from the Great Hall and towards the potions lab. " Merlin, what was I thinking ?" Harry mumbled to himself. '_It was because of Snape…Yes..his fault..his potion fumes are making me delusional.' _the male concluded, shaking his head again.

Still, Malfoy did look really good, he had a great body, and the eyes- " Oh GOD." Harry cried out, making everyone in the hallway jump. " Potions fumes, potions fumes " he repeated to himself, running a hand through his hair.

He continued chanting as he arrived at the lab, looking up into the face of one very mad Serverus Snape. " Potions fumes" Harry blurted out, before catching himself. " Uh, I mean, Professor Snape..hello…err.."

"Potter! Stop staring at me and start sorting out those ingredients I've put out for you. And for Merlin's sake, use your brain for something constructive today. " the potions master spat out as he ushered him into the room.

As soon as Harry set sights on the lab before him, his mouth fell open with a quiet plop. The lab was buried, there was no other word for it, buried in plants, dried toads, newt eyes and Merlin knew what else had been thrown in there. " Oh Gods." Was all the boy managed to say. There were probably thousands of different ingredients, all piled high on every possible flat surface. And he was supposed to sort through all this in two hours ?

" Don't worry Potter" Snape interrupted, seemingly reading his mind. " If you don't finish now, you can always come back tomorrow..and the day after that. And the day after that." he said with a devilish grin, then turned and headed back out.

" I will come check on your progress momentarily, and there had better be some progress Potter." the professor called over his shoulder before slamming the door shut, his black robes ruffling behind him.

The boy let out a tortured groan, and really, he would have sunk to the floor to wallow in self pity…had there been an open spot on the floor to sink down on. Looking down, he glared at the offending dried plants accumulated in the lab. " Stupid potions. Stupid Snape. " Harry mumbled, picking up an ingredient from a table near him.

He was supposed to sort these ? Sort them into what ? He didn't even recognize the plant. With another cry of frustration, he threw the pouch of powder he was holding across the room, then paused suddenly, his eyes widening in shock.

'

* * *

" Do you think he's okay?" Ron asked again, looking after the boy which just left the hall. 

" He'll be fine Ron, but we have to be supportive and understanding now. Harry needs us." The Griffindor replied, eating another grape.

" I know Mionie…Understanding..friends…still, it wouldn't hurt to check up on him." He suggested hopeful.

Now it was Seamus's turn to interrupt. " Ron, just give him some space. Sometimes it's the best way to help out." He pointed out, to which Hermionie gave a thoughtful nod.

* * *

" No Pansy. I do not care about what you think of my hair, nor do I wish to know how much time you have spent owling your friends this summer. Kindly shut up." Draco drawled, not even looking up from his plate now. Why did dinner always have to come accompanied by so much noise? Even his mother had become talkative now, a fact which greatly unnerved him. 

He hadn't eaten in silence in about half a year, and looking up at his friends who continued gabbing and chattering, he had a feeling he wasn't about to have some quiet at the table anytime soon.

Over the summer, Draco had actually gotten more solitary than he already was. The boy liked spending time alone, in quiet. He decided to call them 'Draco-Moments' and they were very frequent. It wasn't necessarily to think about things. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't do anything but relish the fresh air. Either way, the key was to be alone, or at least, to have silence. With Pansy talking about his hair, Millicent complaining, Blaise ranting about lessons, Crabble and Goyle following him everywhere and Theodore having a running commentary about everything that he did, 'quiet' or 'alone' were never going to happen.

'_Maybe if I just fake sick_' he thought to himself, stabbing the last of the chicken of his plate with his fork.

Then again, why fake sick ? He was a Malfoy for Merlin's sake, and Malfoys got what they wanted.

With that he stood up abruptly, letting his gaze go over everyone's faces before speaking.

" I am leaving. Anyone following me will be hexed." Draco hissed out. There, that should be enough of an explanation for them. Turning on his heels, he proceeded to walk out of the Great Hall, leaving the group of bewildered Slytherins behind. None of them had dared to answer Draco.

He walked with a brisk pace, wanting to get away from the offending noise as fast as possible, but not wanting to run. Malfoys didn't run. Come to think of it, with all the rules, Malfoys really didn't do anything. Having such thoughts ceased to surprise Draco. By now he had learned that with the fame and wealth came an annoying need to be 'perfect' for everyone. The malfoy way.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Draco stopped walking. He hadn't really been paying attention to where he was going, and noted that he was now standing in front of the potions lab. Well…it was good enough, he could have something to do quietly by offering to sort out some ingredients for his godfather.

Seconds after he pushed the door open however, Potter's shriek penetrated the air, causing Draco to let out a frustrated scream of his own.

Looking up though, the sight that greeted him was rather amusing. Briefly, he wondered just what the Griffindor did to irritate the Spiked Wizard's Nettle. Everyone knew those liked to bite.

There was another shriek as the boy jumped back, narrowly avoiding the jaws of the plant that was now trying to murder him. Draco found this very, very amusing and couldn't help letting out a mocking laugh.

Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, Killed by an enraged plant. Great headlines.

For a moment, he really did consider letting the plant hack at him, but seeing the damage Potter did trying to hex it he felt a pang of pity for the perfectly good ingredients in this room being destroyed.

Muttering a quiet 'Aguamenti' he sent a jet of water at the plant, which let out a hissing, crackling sound and shrunk back.

" Ironically, they don't like water." Draco explained dryly, pushing his way through the plants to the middle of the room. " Ironically, you were almost killed by it." He added with a smirk, turning to look at the other.

Noting his expression, Draco burst out laughing. It wasn't really a hostile laugh, just natural..amused laugh. He stopped shortly after, noticing the boy staring at him, shocked.

" What? Potter, kindly explain why you are staring at me like that." The Slytherin hissed, now glaring at him.

Harry's expression changed to a small smile. " Nothing..it's just…I've never heard you laugh before." He mumbled.

Draco rolled his eyes. " Of course you have, I do make a hobby of laughing at you and your Gryffindor friends, Potter."

The boy shook his head. " Of course I've heard you laugh at me, but that just sounds..forced. This was you laughing, you _actually_ laughing. It's different. And a lot more pleasant to listen to." Harry added before catching himself.

'_Oh Merlin, did I just tell him I like his laugh? How pathetic was that? The potion fumes are destroying my brain._' He thought to himself, quickly dropping his gaze so the other wouldn't see him panicking.

Draco only raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. " Oh, get over it Potter and start sorting out these ingredients. Not that you will be capable to, but at least you could try. " He drawled, starting to rummage though a pile on the table in front of him.

" It's a pity you are here, I was looking for a nice quiet place." He continued, picking up what looked like a dried orange berry and placing that in his pocket. " It figures you would be the one to ruin my day, Potter." Draco said, turning to head back out of the lab.

" Don't get eaten by a plant, after all, the world needs their Golden Boy." He added with a grin, only narrowly ducking out of the way of a pouch of powder that was thrown at him.

" Oh, sod off Malfoy." Harry yelled out, picking up the nearest dried plant and launching that after the blonde, which was now running out, laughing mockingly. " Bloody Slytherin prat." He mumbled to himself, turning back to the piles of plants.

* * *

" Gryffindor git" Draco mumbled to himself with another laugh, heading towards the gardens. 

If he really thought about it, his laugh did sound different. Strange. He hadn't laughed like this since he was five.it felt..relieving.

* * *

AN: Okay, so you got through the first chapter. I will be posting more up very soon. Hopefully this wasn't too short, I'll try to make them longer in the future. 

Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated and will earn you free cookies!


	2. Nature Walk

AN: So sorry about spelling Gryffindor wrong last chapter…that should be corrected now, thank you for noticing.

Warnings: same as before, slash, as in boys kissing boys, M for later chapters

Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing. J. K. Rowling did all the work of creating the characters..All I did was mess them up –evil grin-

And of course a big huge thanks and cookie for everyone who reviewed!

* * *

" Bloody Slytherin prat " Harry continued to mumble, then sighed and flopped gracelessly onto an empty chair. " Bloody plants." He added, then started to sort through the piles of ingredients. 

Almost two hours later, the lab had cleared up. Tired as he was, he had actually put away about half the ingredients that were piled in the room. It was about then that a red faced Snape burst through the door.

" Potter, leave this. Madam Pomfrey is in need of a blood-replenishing potion and I'm missing some ingredients. You will go to the forbidden forest and collect them." He instructed with a sneer. " Stop gawking at me, I said NOW." He added with a yell as the boy started to protest.

" But..what about sleep, do I have to go ? What if I get lost ?" Harry asked desperately. A trip to the forest was the last thing he needed.

" Then find someone to go with you, Potter, use your brain for once. Madam Pomfrey needs these potions by tomorrow, and it will take me the night to make them so get moving already." The potions master bellowed, pointi9ng towards the door.

Harry sighed, defeated. " Alright, I'll get them." He mumbled, heading to the door. " But only because someone needs this potion." He added to himself, glaring at his professor again before stomping out.

The Gryffindor decided to ask Hagrid for help, he was always in the mood to venturing through the forest these days, mostly to visit the creatures residing there. Oh yes, the creatures..Spiders, Vyverns, no doubt all the 'cute' things would mind if someone started rummaging through their forest.

With another sigh, Harry trudged out into the gardens, stifling a yawn. Why was he so tiered today? Yawning again, he closed his eyes and just walked. He knew the grounds well enough not to stray too far from his path.

Suddenly, his foot caught on something and he yelped, stumbling forward a few steps before regaining his balance. Turning back to look, Harry could see he tripped over some sort of root. '_Great..The plants are already against me_'

" Hagrid? Are you here? Hagrid?" the boy called out to the hut before him, frowning slightly when no response came. '_He isn't here..probably already in the forest..I could meet him there._' He thought, then nodded to himself and set off.

It wasn't too long before he had wandered deep within the forest. To be honest, he didn't even know where he was supposed to look, but he assumed asking Snape would only cause more arguments. The Gryffindor stopped walking, wincing slightly and rubbing at his temples. The headache was getting worse by the minute.

* * *

" Ron, Harry should have been back by now, where do you think he's gone ?" Hermione asked, worried, looking over to the red haired boy lying on the couch in the common room. 

" Dunno Mionie" the boy mumbled back, cracking an eye open to look at her. " Ron! He's out friend and he might need our help, could you please be more concerned?" the girl snapped, standing up to tower over him.

" Aw, Mionie, I know. I'm sorry, just tired. Let's go look for him okay ?" Ron suggested, stretching slowly and then standing up as well. Hermione nodded eagerly at that and crouched down, grabbing her bag and staring to fill it with different books and items. Ron let out an exasperated sigh.

" Hermione. We're just looking for Harry, not fighting You-Know-Who. " he exclaimed, to which she shrugged. " You never know. Now, I have everything.. Let's find him before he gets himself in trouble." She declared, grabbing the other's hand and pulling him though the portrait door.

Once outside, Hermione sped through the hallways, pausing occasionally to check a few classrooms, while Ron was only halfway awake and following her, yawning every few minutes.

" Did we find'em yet 'Mionie ?" the boy asked sleepily, to which Hermione let out a loud huff. " Ron, stop that and help me search!" she scolded him. Ron sighed. " He's gone for a few hours and you're already freaking out. He's fine. Detention with Snape can last forever." He pointed out.

" Well, then I'm just making sure. Now, Ron, I'll finish looking here, you get started down the next hallway. And hurry please. "

" Alright, I'll be right back. " the boy mumbled back, trudging aimlessly through the school. He wasn't paying any attention to where he was going, gasping surprised when he collided with something, falling back to the floor with a small grunt.

* * *

" No Pansy, I need quiet, as in, no noise. " Draco explained for the hundredth time in the last hour, glaring at the offending Slytherin before him. " The Hufflepuffs are always giggling about something, the Ravenclaws are bragging about their intelligence, which is mostly nonexistent, Gryffindors are just bloody Gryffindors and you won't stop asking about my hair. Therefore, I would like to be alone. As in, without you breathing down my neck." He hissed out, keeping the mask of calm on his face. Emotion didn't suit a Malfoy. 

Pansy put on a worried look. " But Drakie dear, then you'll be all alone, with no one to talk to you." She exclaimed, following the blonde always one step behind. " Yes Pansy, that is the idea." He answered, exasperated, speeding up his pace in the hopes of loosing her. No such luck, the girl stayed right behind him.

" Pansy! For the last bloody time, leave. Me. alone. " he repeated calmly, though silently he wondered how to best hex her mouth shut. '_Maybe glue her lips together..yes, that would do._' He wondered absent-mindedly as she continued prattling about.

Draco never finished thinking that trough however, as he found himself thrown to the floor, the boy that ran into him falling back also.

" Weasel!" the Slytherin yelled out. " Watch where you're bloody going, This hallway is almost completely empty, even you should be able to avoid hitting the one person standing in it."

" Two." Pansy interrupted. " Two people standing in it whe- " she started but drifted off, shrinking back as both Draco and Ron shot her an icy glare.

" Well, you know, you and your huge ego do take up a lot more than just the hallway. Besides, a knock on the head is just what you needed! " the Gryffindor spat out.

" Weasel!" the blonde called out with a sneer. " Don't you have anything better to do than irritate me? Hang out with your mudblood friends maybe?"

" You take that BACK. " Ron yelled, launching himself towards Malfoy, fists ready. He didn't get very far as Draco reacted faster than he'd expected and the blonde's fist connected with the other's jaw with a crack.

" Draco Malfoy!" Professor McGonnal shrieked, as Ron hit the ground. " Stop this at once!" she continued, to which Draco just gave an uninterested huff.

* * *

Harry's breaths were getting quicker, more uneven. He didn't know how long he had been wandering through the forest, but judging by how dark it had gotten, he was very late. Wincing again, he brought a hand to his temple. This wasn't good. After a few more moments, the Gryffindor decided to turn around. He couldn't find the plants anyway, and the headache was getting overwhelming. 

" Stupid potions." He mumbled to himself, pausing to look around. Gasping, he turned quickly. He didn't recognize any of this! He hadn't been here before…had he? The Gryffindor frowned and continued to walk in what he thought was the more familiar direction. After a few more steps, he accepted that he was hopelessly lost.

'_Okay. I'm lost. I'll just keep walking, hopefully I'll recognize something._' He thought desperately, trudging on. Slowly, the ground underneath his feet didn't feel so hard anymore, the air was thinner, and black spots started to cloud his vision. Before long, the spots faded into complete darkness and Harry felt himself fall forward, the ground rushing up to meet him.

* * *

" Mister Malfoy, that is no way to behave towards a fellow student. You just earn yourself a detention, and fifty points will be deducted from Slytherin!" Professor McGonnal continued, ignoring the hateful glare she was receiving from the blonde. 

" He attacked me, and I defended myself." Draco retorted, and immediately Pansy jumped forward to agree.

Ron stood up slowly, rubbing at his chin, trying his best to ignore the Slytherin. " Professor McGonnal, we can't find Harry anywhere. He should have been back hours ago!"

" Oh dear. That's not right. He was out on detention, collecting plants in the forest." The professor replied, worried.

" Hermione and I will go after him." The Gryffindor offered hopeful. Now, at least they knew where he was.

" No, thank you Ronald, but I think I will have mister Malfoy here do that. As your detention." She clarified, giving him a stern look that left no room for argument.

Draco kept quiet, still glaring at the professor. '_No! Now I have to baby-sit Potter?_'

" And take Pansy here with you, just in case." McGonnal added with a nod.

'_What! No! FUCK_'

'_Alright! Alone time with my Draco! We don't have to look for Potter right away.._'

" Get going mister Malfoy. I trust you two know the forest well enough not to get lost?" she questioned the two, which were starting at her strangely. Draco with a look of panic, and Pansy with one that resembled daydreaming.

Draco didn't know exactly how it happened. He really did try to argue his way out. Yet here he was, trudging through the gardens with a giggling Pansy practically attached to his arm.

" Pansy, let go of me!" he hissed, frustrated, trying to struggle out of her grasp without much success. The girl continued to cling to him, giggling, talking and producing those high pitched shrieks he loathed so much. In truth, being stuck somewhere in the forest with Potter didn't sound half-bad now.

By the time they got to the forest, Draco was ready to scream. He even considered begging her to let go. Of course, he restrained himself. Malfoys don't beg.

'_Alright, that's it._' Draco thought, turning to glare at the girl. " We'll split up, so we can find him faster and get this over with. You can go that way." He said, pointing in a completely random direction. " and I will go the exact opposite way. Good day." He concluded, ripping his arm free of Pansy's hold and setting off, grumbling to himself.

After a while the shouts of 'Draaaaaakiieeeee, where are you going, we have to stay _together_' died down, and finally there was quiet. As he walked, the Slytherin allowed a small smile to appear on his lips.

However, that died down immediately as he took in the sight before him, his breath catching.

" Harry!." Draco breathed out with a look of panic.

* * *

AN: Well, it's one am, and I've been typing this since I got back from work . I did try to eradicate all the spelling mistakes but I might have missed some. If you do come across any, please let me know so I can fix them. Thanks, and review! 


	3. Games

AN: So sorry for the huge delay in updating. My schoolwork really threw me off track. I will be continuing this story, so don't worry, but because of school the time it takes me to update may be longer.

Warnings: Same as always, M for later chapters, slash

Disclaimer. Well, I think we all know J.K Rowling owns the characters, the only thing that's mine is the twisted plot. Heh.

* * *

Draco's eyes widened and he gasped as he took in the sight before him. "Harry" he breathed out, staring up at the unconscious male. He was lying in the grass, unmoving, surrounded by blood. 

Before he even knew it, Draco was at his side, trying to shake him awake when he saw the deep gash in the other's forehead, that was still bleeding. The blonde bit his lip and stared at the ominous cut, trying to think of a way to heal it. He had never been too good in healing spells. He couldn't risk it, so he performed the only spell he thought would help right now, one to stop the bleeding.

" Hey, wake up, come on, wake up." He said quietly, shaking the boy again, with no avail. How was he supposed to get him back if he didn't move?

The blonde sighed again, then mumbled a quick 'enervate'. Harry's eyes slid open with a pained groan, and he brought a hand to his forehead, wincing. " What the…Malfoy? Where..but..no…" he mumbled, then drifted off with a sigh and closed his eyes again.

" Hey, no, wake up. You have to stay awake." Draco said, shaking the male again. " Potter!" He hissed to him. Harry only tiled his head to the side slightly. " 'm tired..I wanna lie here." He mumbled, his voice low and slurred.

" Potter. You are in the forbidden forest. Unless you are willing to stay here and get eaten by the next creature that passes by, you had better stand up and walk." The blonde hissed, crossing his arms with a sneer.

Harry sighed again, but this time made and effort to turn over, pushing himself up on his hands and knees with a grunt. As he tried to stand though, the blotches of black rushed at him again and he could feel himself falling. In his panic, he reached for the nearest thing to steady himself on: Draco. Since the blonde was still kneeling on the ground though, it only caused him to fall forward over the other with a pained groan.

" W- What? Potter!" Draco stuttered as the other fell into his arms. He tried to push him away at first, but then just sighed in defeat He was clearly in no condition to walk, and he wasn't as heartless as to just leave him there. Also, there was something inside of him that was reaching out to the other, a feeling that told him not to let go. '_No, I am a Malfoy, I do not show petty emotions. I am only doing this because I am forced to._' He concluded, then sighed again before picking the other up and starting to walk.

After only a few minutes of pushing his way through the forest, he was getting unnerved. The small whimpers and sounds the male made were getting more distressed. Draco wasn't too skilled in medical spells, but someone like Pansy could probably help. '_Pansy..where is she anyway?_' he wondered.

Strangely, it was as if the obnoxious girl zeroed in on his thoughts, for she appeared just minutes later with a shrill cry of joy. " Draykie! You shouldn't run like that, I almost g- Oh..OH, is that…Potter?" she asked in disbelief. " What happened to him?" the Slytherin asked, walking closer.

Draco sighed again. " I don't know, I just want to get out of this forest already." He snapped back, starting to walk pointedly in the direction of what he thought was the path leading out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were frantic. Hermione was sitting on one of the chairs in the Gryffindor common room, trying to follow the red haired boy pacing back and forth at ridiculous speed. 

"Ron, running around won't help." She said quietly, earning herself yet another glare from the male.

" But Mionie! Harry is in _danger_ and they sent _Malfoy_ to help, Malfoy! If that git even finds him, he'll only do more damage than good. He doesn't want to help Harry, McGonnal should have let us go! We should have gone looking for him hours ago, but we're just sitting here doing nothing!" Ron cried, throwing his hands in the air with another frustrated groan.

The girl sighed again sank further back into her chair. " Ron, it's done. I'm worried about Harry just as much as you are, but we can't help him by getting lost in the forest ourselves. And we won't be much good to him in the morning either if we haven't had any sleep. It's already very late, let's just get some rest for now." She said, and Ron finally relented.

" I guess.." he mumbled. He was going to wait, but he wasn't going to be fine with it.

* * *

Harry moaned in pain again, clutching closer to the other that had been carrying him for the past half-hour now. A headache, no, even a migraine couldn't describe what he was feeling. Every sound felt like knives, and Pansy just kept _talking_. That girl was a never-ending stream of giggles and shrieks. 

Draco was also getting increasingly frustrated. First, because he had to carry Potter like some slave, second, because Pansy was producing the loudest and shrillest sounds yet, and third, because every one of the shrieks was making Potter cling to him…and fourth…Draco found that somewhat comforting.

No. He was a Malfoy, he did not have such emotions, especially not towards _Potter_ , it must be the girl's talking that was driving him mad. After a few more minutes, he'd had enough.

" Pansy." He hissed out with malice, turning to shoot her an icy glare. " If I hear one more sound coming from that mouth of yours I will Hex. It. Shut." He threatened, then turned again and started to speed up his pace.

As the forest fell into silence, Harry's grip finally relaxed and he let out a small grunt of approval. Sighing again, he opened his eyes slightly, to peer around him. They were already heading through the door into Hogwarts, and when they did, he heard the Slytherin mumble something to Pansy, after which they parted.

Draco had no intention of going to report to the teachers first, for now he just wanted to put Potter down somewhere, and that somewhere would probably be the hospital wing, so he set that as his destination. He walked quickly and silently, except for one moment.

" You're going to be fine you know." He mumbled, in a hushed voice. " Hmmm?" came Harry's confused reply.

" I mean, it's barely a cut..it's not like you'll die..so…you have nothing to worry about." The blonde repeated, feeling the words as if they were unfamiliar.

Harry lifted his head to stare wide-eyed at him. Had he just witnessed an attempt at small talk from the infamous Draco Malfoy?

" Forget it." The blonde added hastily, pushing through the door of the hospital wing. Locating Madam Pomfrey, he walked over to her and held Harry out to the nurse. " Here." He grunted.

" Oh dear!" Poppy exclaimed, rushing to levitate the boy onto one of the empty beds and starting to examine him. " We need to get blood replenishing potions..and this.." she mumbled to herself, then stopped suddenly as her eyes fell on the Slyterin, as if only now realizing he was in the room.

" Mister Malfoy, if you haven't already, please notify Professor Dumbledore of this." she requested, then went back to her diagnostic spells.

Draco only grunted, but stood up nevertheless, walking quietly out of the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey turned back to Harry with a worried expression. His injuries were not too severe, but the fact that bothered her that there were many that were almost healed, which meant he got hurt earlier. Maybe during the summer. He had been hiding something, and she intended to find out what.

* * *

Draco stifled a yawn as walked up to the Headmaster's office, mumbling silently to himself. Only when he neared the end of the stairs did he realize he didn't have the password. Cursing under his breath, he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. 

Still, he got lucky, for Professor Dumbledore emerged from his office only minutes after, eyeing the blonde with slight curiosity. " Mister Malfoy, what can I do for you? "the professor said with a smile.

The Slytherin let out another sigh, then started to explain everything that had happened.

" So, Madam Pomfrey would like to speak to you now." He concluded, looking back to the Headmaster, who let out a soft gasp.

" Well, we had better not waste time here then. Thank you for telling me this Mister Malfoy, you may return to the dormitories now. I'm sure you're in need of a good night's rest." Dumbledore said as he descended the stairs quickly. " Off you go." He added, then rounded the corner and disappeared.

Draco remained standing for a moment, then shook his head and started walking back to the Slytherin common rooms.

* * *

Back in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore were standing around Harry's bed, speaking in hushed voices. 

" Albus, he has so many scars that I've never noticed before, he must have gotten them during the summer somehow. Are you sure he's safe there?"

" I was." The Headmaster admitted, " He's never said anything to me that would indicate otherwise..We'd best speak to him when he wakes up." Dumbledore said, and Poppy nodded slowly.

* * *

Nothing out of the ordinary. Of course not. This wasn't strange at all. Draco was walking calmly, his usual sneer in place, ignoring everything around him. Still, he was walking..but towards the hospital wing. Why in Merlin's name was he walking towards the hospital wing? 

It was stupid, absolutely stupid that his mind was telling him to go to the common room, yet he still kept heading in the wrong direction. It was one of those mind over matter issues, except that now, his mind really wasn't all too strong.

It took him quiet a while to actually get there. Sometimes, his mind would win the battle, and he's turn around and walk back. Then, his mind would slowly give in and he'd find himself heading for the hospital wing again. By the time he had actually arrived, there was no sign of either Madam Pomfrey, or Professor Dumbledore.

He entered, and walked slowly over to the bed from before, staring down confused at the 'Gryffindor's Golden Boy'. Like this, he really didn't look like anything special.

Merlin, what the hell was he doing here? He should be back in his bed, enjoying a good night's rest, not here staring at harry Potter.

With that, he turned and started walking away again, when he heard a soft sound coming from the boy.

Harry stirred slightly, opening his eyes and gazing around him, confused. His head hurt, and he could only remember bits and pieces from the previous night. One thing he did remember though, was being brought back from the forest, carried by…Draco?

'_No, that can't be right._' He thought to himself, then noticed the blonde's retreating form. " Hey. " he called out softly, and saw that the other stopped walking.

'_Walk away, just walk away. Don't say anything. Just pretend you didn't hear him_' Draco's thoughts went, but he turned anyway.

" Can we talk?" Harry's voice came again, and the blonde narrowed his eyes lightly, but walked over and sat down in one of the chairs next to the bed.

" Why did you bring me back?" The Gryffindor asked, curious, shifting so that he could better look at the other.

Mind over matter..if that was so easy why couldn't he just get up from the chair? Possibly…because he didn't want to…no of course he wanted to leave..

" Are you going to answer?" he asked. " No" the Slytherin mumbled back, and Harry let out a small sigh.

" Alright, we'll play a game." Harry suggested. " I ask a question, then you answer it and ask a question, I answer that and so on. Okay?"

" You hit your head pretty hard there, didn't you Potter. " The blonde mumbled, raising an eyebrow.

" Ah, you didn't ask a question. Strike one. Now, why are you here?" the Gryffindor asked.

" Potter, I do not play games." Draco hissed back, and Harry sighed again.

" You didn't answer. Strike two. One more strike and you're out." He warned. This was getting the blonde quite frustrated, and Harry watched for a moment with an amused smile. " We'll start easy, what is your full name?"

The Slythering narrowed his eyes. " Draco Lucius Malfoy..Why?"

Harry shrugged. " Just curious, I thought you'd have some million middle names..Why are you here?" he asked again.

Draco paused for a moment. " I don't really know…why are you here?"

"Hmm." Came the Gryffindor's reply. " I don't really know..I guess I tripped in the forest or something…Why were you there?"

" Professor McGonnal sent me after you as punishment for attempting to murder one of her precious Gryffindors. Why were you there?"

" Detention, and stop repeating my questions." Harry mumbled with a small frown. " Why was Pansy there?"

" To make sure I didn't kill you when I found you. Why did you think she was there?" the blonde retorted.

" I don't know, I was sort of in pain at the moment. What is your favorite food?" Harry asked then, curious.

" What? Where did that come from?" the blonde mumbled in confusion.

Harry shrugged again. " I just wanted to change the subject..So what is your favorite food?"

"Potter..why are you talking to me?" the blonde asked now, frustrated.

" Because you've been acting strange yesterday and today…and I guess I figured you weren't acting strange at all, just normal, and that usually you have this mask…I already know Draco Malfoy, Slytherin prince , is a git not worth talking to " harry mumbled and Draco let out an insulted snort. " But I thought maybe Draco was..worth talking to I mean.."

" So let me get this straight…The Gyffindor Golden Boy, Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived..is interested in Draco's favorite food.." the blonde mumbled incredulously.

Harry remained silent for a moment before speaking. " I'm not that..Boy Who Lived, or Gryffindor Golden Boy Harry Potter…I'm just Harry okay? Just Harry.

Draco sighed again, exasperated. This was going to be a very long night.

" I really think you hit your head too hard there…_Harry_. And just for the record, I don't have any favorite food."

* * *

AN: To Dragonheart, who threatened to kill me if I stopped…hehe…I won't. I really am sorry about how long it took me to get this chapter up. 


	4. Malfoy, meet Draco

AN: Alright, chapter four. A big huge thanks to the people still reading this, even though I took so long to update, and another big huge thanks to those who took time to review. My life has been pretty crazy..I haven't gotten to the computer in..months? In any case, I promised myself I wouldn't abandon this story, so even though it might take me ages to update, I will finish this.

Warnings: same as always. M for later chapters

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or it's characters. If I did, Harry would have dumped Ginny and married Draco long ago. Fortunately, I do own this plot –evil grin-

* * *

Harry groaned softly and rolled onto his side, stifling a yawn. It felt far too early to be waking up now, but for some reason he had been pulled from his sleep. Stubbornly, he kept his eyes shut and pulled the covers closer around him. After a while, a pair of voices could be heard, getting clearer and slightly louder. It sounded like Ron and Hermione, arguing about something like exams. 

" OH!" he gasped as he remembered everything that had happened the night before, sitting up quickly and opening his eyes to stare at two bewildered Gryffindors.

They were both quick to recover and gave him a smile. " Harry, you're finally awake!" Hermione exclaimed, shifting over to pull him into a crushing hug. " Yeah, you had us worried for a second there, mate." Ron added, but smiled also.

" Sorry." The boy mumbled, then paused, confused. The last thing he remembered, strangely, was talking to Malfoy..But that couldn't have happened…maybe it had been a dream..but..a dream about _Malfoy_?

" Umm, how long have you been here?" Harry asked, curious.

Ron shrugged slightly. " Since we woke up today I guess…It's about noon now so a couple of hours." He mumbled, then grinned. " I got to miss potions." He declared victoriously, earning himself another glare from the girl.

So it could have happened. It wasn't a dream. Malfoy had been here and they had talked about..food? Yes..his favorite food. Strange. He would have imagined Draco Malfoy's food to be something exotic and threatening sounding. Maybe something that exploded when cut wrong..

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the Headmaster's voice ringing out. " Ah, good to see you awake Harry. Now, you two had best get to class, you've already missed half of the day. " he reminded Ron and Hermionie.

When the two retreated out of the room with a small sigh and wave, Dumbledore turned back to Harry, his expression sullen. " Harry, is there something you would like to tell me?"

'_Of course, Vernon's drunk ever waking hour of the day, Dudley has invented a new sport called 'beat the life out of Harry' I've been too sick to heal my injuries lately and they're getting worse, I'm tired, in pain and starving to death and I might have just had an actual conversation with MALFOY of all people but no, I'm perfectly fine.'_

" No sir." He mumbled blankly with a short shake of his head, leaning back against the headboard of the bed. " Why? "

This seemed to perplex the professor somewhat, and he remained silent for a moment, debating weather or not he should speak. He wondered weathers he should just mention the bruises, or wait until Harry was ready to talk about them. Dumbledore sighed and stared at harry for a moment before offering a warm smile.

" If anything ever bothers you, you know I'll listen to what you have to say..now, get some rest. Madam Pomfrey should be back with an early dinner and some more potions soon."

Harry paused, then nodded. " Okay…thanks Professor." He mumbled, crumpling the sheets between his fingers absent-mindedly. The boy probably wouldn't speak to him about his problems..after all, he was just another wizard, he wouldn't really understand. They had quite different priorities.

Of course, both wanted to defeat Voldemord, but lately it seemed like everywhere that Harry went, he caused pain and suffering. And everyone he tried to save ended up..

Either Voldemord or Harry would survive according to the prophecy, but lately, Harry had been debating a new plan, a loophole in the prophecy. What if, none of them survived? Somehow, that option just sounded better.

* * *

" Weasley, would you please step away from the cauldron before you send the whole school off in smoke.." Draco hissed, making it sound more like a threat than a request. The red hared Gryffindor only looked up at him shortly before huffing and leaning back in his chair. " I hate bloody potions.." he murmured, turning away from the bubbling mass of goo he'd produced. 

Draco rolled his eyes before turning to the cauldron, starting to try to fix the damage the Weasel had doe to what would have been a perfectly good potion. As strange as it sounded, he missed Potter. When he was present they usually got paired up together. He hated potions too, but at least he could brew some of the simpler ones…Weasley was completely incompetent.

It didn't take long for the potion to acquire the requested color, but he was sure that after all the ingredients Weasley had added, it would taste horrible.

For the remainder of the class, Draco didn't speak to Weasley, Ron continued to glare hatefully at the blonde, Snape continued to hand out detentions and the Granger's hand would always be raised high. Just another day. Except, it didn't feel like just another day. Even to Draco, it felt like something, someone was missing.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey was going over the potions she had in storage the third time now..There just weren't enough. She had the basics, but some of Harry's injuries were so strange. As if the wounds had been closed with magic, but not enough to heal properly. She sighed in frustration, picking up a few blood replenishing potions and setting those aside for the boy. As she heard a knock on the door, she stood and went to let Professor Snape in. 

" I'll need a lot more than these Serverus, and fast. We need blood replenishing potions, sleeping potions, bone mending potions, and he probably has blood poisoning too.." she listed, shaking her head.

The potions master sighed, rolling his eyes as the list went on. " Can the Gryffindor Golden Boy do nothing right?" he mumbled under his breath, making a quick not of the potions needed. " I'll try to have them for you by midnight" he confirmed, then scowled slightly and turned towards the door again

Heading back to his lab, he stopped Draco on the way, motioning for him to follow. " Hurry up, we have some potions to brew." He explained, starting to walk again.

Draco, who just finished getting rid of Pansy, again, frowned up at the potions master. " Why? I've already served out my detention dragging Potter all the was out of the forest." He retorted calmly.

" This isn't detention, Madam Pomfrey needs these and there is absolutely no way I was willing to work with the Granger girl. " Snape explained with another sigh, opening the door to the lab.

This seemed to quiet Draco down, at least slightly. He was still sneering as he entered the lab, but didn't complain, just pulled up a cauldron and started brining out some basic ingredients. As he set everything up, Snape started listing all the potions they needed to make.

" You'll take the four blood replenishing potions, and we'll see about the blood cleansing one later, have a couple of healing ones ready, flesh and bone, and we're going to have to have some newt eyes and lizard's scales ready for the last one." The professor mumbled unenthusiastically.

The blonde raised an eyebrow as he heard the extensive list. " What, has half the school gotten mauled by something?" he drawled, starting to cut a few dried wizard's nettle roots.

" No, just Potter." Snape retorted, then went back to concentrating on the potion he was brewing.

Draco's eyes widened slightly as he took the information in. All of these were for _Harry _? What could have possibly done this much damage? Something just didn't look right, and the suspicious feeling stayed with him as he was preparing the potions. An encounter with the Dark Lord perhaps? But the whole school would have known by now, especially Draco.

" Is he okay?" he mumbled quietly before catching himself.

Snape looked up with an unamused expression. " Draco, don't tell me you've actually developed a feeling of compassion.."

" Of course not." The boy snapped back, turning back to the cauldron with an angry huff.

* * *

" I hope Harry gets well soon, I can't not do homework all by myself." Ron said over dinner, earning himself yet another glare from the red hared girl sitting across from him. If he had a galleon for every time Hermione had glared at, or scolded him, he could pay someone to do his homework for him every day. Actually, that sounded quite nice. 

" Ron…what are you smiling at?" the Gryffindor asked, perplexed. " It had better not be because of those fumes you inhaled in potions, that cauldron looked dangerous." She started, looking to him with a scrutinizing expression. " Don't you get sick too, it's enough one of us is in the hospital wing."

Ron rolled his eyes and continued eating. " Don't worry 'Mionie, it's not the potion..I was just thinking about someone who I could pay to do my homework assignments." He explained casually.

The girl scowled at him. " Ronald, that is not funny, and for Merlin's sake, chew with your mouth closed!"

* * *

" Hah, take that you stupid pawn! Didn't see that coming did you?" Harry exclaimed, then sighed and leaned back against the headboard again. Playing Wizard's Chess with himself was beyond boring. First of all, he never won, second of all, it was stupid that he knew every move the opponent (in this case, sadly, himself) was going to make, and thirdly he wasn't even that good in chess. 

" This is so stupid.." he said out loud, in the hopes that maybe some god up there would hear him and send down a lightning bolt carrying a more interactive version of chess. '_And that is officially the weirdest wish I have ever had._' He concluded, glaring at the chessboard that was balanced on his lap.

He felt tired, pained, grumpy and edgy, and for some reason the chessboard was just making it worse. Still, he was snapped out of his thoughts abruptly as he noticed a piece on the opposite end of the board move into place.

Harry stared at the board, dumbfounded. As far as he knew, those pieces didn't just move by themselves, something was..fishy. Still, he decided to go along with the weird haunted board he now had in front of him, and moved a piece of his own, attacking the..'other'.

The piece moved out of the way expertly and managed to take a bishop of his own in the process. Harry huffed angrily. So this was a professional, chess-playing ghost? Alright…he'd play rough then. With that thought in mind, he moved another piece forward, meaning to force the ghost player back.

It turned out that the ghost player was actually quite skilled, and Harry found himself being pushed back by the other's pieces until one moment, when his king was in check, he couldn't find a way out anymore. The Gryffindor stared quietly at the board. The ghost had actually won.

" Checkmate " Draco said lazily, setting his wand down.

Harry gasped and spun around to find Draco sitting in a chair beside him with a smug expression. " Funny, I liked it better when I thought the board was haunted." The boy mumbled, turning back to the board and starting to put the pieces away.

" That would be impossible Potter, that board hasn't been here that long. Besides, you are not at all good at this. Isn't the Gryffindor Golden Boy supposed to be great at everything?" the blonde added, raising an eyebrow at him.

" Oh, so now we're back to Potter, _Malfoy?_ Have you come to brag about your chess playing abilities or just to frustrate me, because you're doing a great job so far." Harry replied sarcastically.

" Well, I was here expecting a good game of Wizard's Chess, Harry, but since you have proved to be so weak there really wasn't any fun in beating you. " Draco added, then paused slightly. " I could teach you how to play.." he mumbled quietly, as if it was something unheard of.

The Gryffindor raised an eyebrow, staring at the other curiously. " Tell me, Draco, do you know about schizophrenia? I think it's something you should look up. "

" Very funny, Potter." The Slytherin retorted, sinking back in his chair. " As long as we're recommending books to eachother, I think you should give "Potions for first years' a try."

Harry glared at the other for a moment, then leaned back again with a sigh. " Alright, I'm not going to do this. I feel to sick to argue." He mumbled tiredly. " What, is it Potter that brings out Malfoy, and Harry that brings out Draco, because I like Draco a lot more.." he mumbled to himself, then shrugged. " Alright, I'll try Harry then. Why are you here?"

Draco rolled his eyes at that. " To bring you the mountain of potions I was forced to brew for you, Potter, you require more maintenance than this whole school combined." He retorted with a sneer.

The Gryffindor turned to glare sharply at the other. " If you can't even make a small effort to be Draco, then Potter will hex you right out the door." He promised angrily.

The blonde stayed rooted in place, though the smug look faded off of his face. " I was brought up to be Malfoy."

" And I'm being brought up to be the Gryffindor Golden Boy..but I can still manage to be myself." He pointed out, to which the other huffed slightly.

" You know nothing about me" Draco hissed, glowering at the other, watching the Gryffindor shrug slightly.

" No, I guess I don't" Harry replied calmly. " Why don't you tell me then? It's not like I'm going anywhere." The boy added, gesturing to the bed.

" You wouldn't understand anyway Po-..Harry." the blonde mumbled. " Why does it interest you so much anyway?"

Harry smiled sadly at that. " It's horribly lonely when no one knows you." He responded, and Draco could tell he was speaking from experience, but blocked it off with a sneer.

" Malfoy's don't get lonely.." Draco said, crossing his arms with an unamused look.

" Does Draco?" Harry asked then, turning to look to the other, curiously. That seemed to confuse the blonde.

In his whole life he'd used that same expression of possibly hundreds of people, and not one had ever asked that. It was almost as strange as the time when he'd found Snape wearing pink pajama boxers with moose and mugs of ale on them.

" How did you get your injuries?" he asked quietly, receiving another shrug in response.

" It involves muggles, emotion, and real life…Malfoy wouldn't understand." Harry replied softly.

Draco sighed slightly, choosing to ignore the small insult in the comment. " Maybe not…but Draco might.."

* * *

AN: Guess what? It's one am yet again . now, before I go, I'll just quickly mention this, just in case anyone got confused. Schizophrenia is a type of brain disorder involving split personalities. Two people living inside the same body. Harry refers to Draco and Malfoy when he says that. 


	5. Awakening

AN: Alrightly, next part's up I have big plans for this plot.

Warnings: same as before, slash, as in boys kissing boys, M for later chapters

Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing. J. K. Rowling did all the work of creating the characters..I just like mixing things up

* * *

" That is it, that is absolutely it! I will not do this anymore." Harry cried out, throwing his hands angrily up in the air. " Why? _How?"_ he continued wailing.

Draco Malfoy, who was still sitting in the chair besides Harry's bed looked up from the chessboard, slowly fixing his eyes on the Gryffindor. The boy was a really sore loser. The blonde blinked, then in a split second burst out laughing, so loudly that the whole school would probably be woken up.

Harry stared on for a second. " Funny.." he answered flatly. " You can stop now.." he continued, glaring at the still laughing Slytherin. With another frustrated sigh, he lunged forward, pressing his palm to the other's mouth to silence him. His current thoughts were lost however, as both he and Draco suddenly realized how close to each other they were..and if they moved their lips just one bit …maybe..they..could

" Potter, get off." The Slythering finally cried out, pushing the dazed boy away, taking a moment to regroup while fixing his hair. " You still haven't answered my question." He reminded him, quickly changing the subject. " Why are you here? Did you get attacked by a plant again?" he asked, sarcastically.

The Gryffindor pouted slightly. " Funny." He mumbled flatly again. " No, I assure you, the only thing the plants did that night was trip me with their roots." He spat back, sticking out his tongue. Before answering, he did a quick Tempus spell, then set his wand down his a sigh. " It's really late, We have classes tomorrow morning…well, actually, today now…" Harry pointed out, watching the other nod in agreement.

" I'm going back to the Common Rooms before someone catches me out here." Draco concluded, then stood up and started walking towards the door.

" Wait." Harry called out, and watched as the other stopped and turned slightly. " What about tomorrow…when I see you in class…will…you be Draco?" he asked softly, as if dazed that he was actually having a non-fight-conversation with him.

Draco sniffed slightly and turned back to the door. " Of course not. I have an image to uphold after all. I'm the Malfoy heir." He spat out with resentment. " Just like you are the Gryffindor Golden Boy."

" But I'm not..I'm just Harry." Came the soft reply, disappointment clouding his voice.

" And I'm just Draco, but no one seems to care about that little detail." The blonde replied, heading back out the door. After he left, Harry remained motionless on the bed, his eyes still fixed to the spot in which the Slytherin had been standing. He gave off a small sigh, and then finally replied in a whisper, to himself

" I care "

* * *

" Ron, help me." Harry called out to the red hared Gryffindor, his eyes pleading. After he had gotten released from the Hospital wing that morning, with warnings to stop starving himself or have his head eaten by a dragon, the first thing he did was run straight for Ron and Hermionie.

Ron saw Harry's state and raised an eyebrow cautiously. " What's the matter mate? Did Madam Pomfrey force those disgusting potions on you again?"

" No, no, it's Dra- Malfoy." The boy continued, hoping Ron didn't think too much of his Draco slip-up. Ron didn't even seem to notice though, just clapped a hand to his forehead.

" Oh man, what did that git do to you now? He should have his ass hexed out of this school for good." He concluded, shaking his head. " Don't worry Harry, we'll get back at him."

" No, Ron, that's not it. I think I'm going insane. Last night I had a conversation with him, an actual conversation Ron. We even talked about his favorite food, what is wrong with me?" he wailed, plopping down in one of the chairs in the Gryffindor Common Room, barely noticing the confused stared he was getting from the other Gryffindors.

Ron pulled a confused face, but after ruling out any insanity on Harry's part just voiced his ultimate theory. " He hexed you. There's no other explanation mate. He wanted to get you to talk about something so he hexed you. It got you all confused and friendly." The boy explained with a sigh. " There's no way we can prove it, but I'm sure that's what happened. Just stay away from him. Avoid him at any cost and try to find out what he wanted. If it's so important that Malfoy hexed you for it then it's gotta be big."

Harry frowned at that, shaking his head. " I don't think I was hexed Ron. It was real. I just don't know why.." he mumbled, sinking further back into the red and gold chair. " It doesn't make any sense, it's Malfoy..why would he act like that?" he added, more to himself.

" Well mate, he's evil, he's a Slytherin, He's _Malfoy_…he doesn't make any sense, of course not, he's insane…he's this weird, crazy insulting freak." Ron concluded, not really catching the last of Harry's words. " Now let's go before we're late for potions or Snape is going to curse us." He added with a nod, standing up and heading for the door, turning back to wait for Harry.

A few moments later, Hermione appeared from atop the stairs, mumbling something about missing potions ingredients before moving to stand beside Ron. " Are we ready to go? We can't be late, we have potions first." She explained, to which Ron gave another sigh.

" Alright." The boy mumbled, picking up his books, and after joining Hermione and Ron walked out into the halls. " I'm fine 'Mionie, just tired.." he explained, fending off the questioning stare he was getting from her, promising himself to explain later after classes were over.

Once they arrived at the potions lab, Harry headed straight for his seat, glancing sideways at the blonde Slytherin who was already seated on the opposite end of the room. Draco was staring pointedly ahead, though he felt the Gryffindor's stare. Potions class continued without any interruptions, at least until towards the end where Harry added the wrong ingredients to his cauldron, causing the liquid to give off an ominous looking black smoke. " Oh crap."

A frightened gasp escaped both Snape and Hermione as they recognized the concoction. " Everyone get out and go straight for the hospital wing." Snape called out, glaring angrily at the Gryffindor before starting to usher the panicked students out. " W-What's going on, what in Merlin's name did I _do_?" Harry cried out, backing away from the smoking liquid.

" The smoke is highly poisonous, I'll explain later, just get away from it. " Hermione interrupted, pulling him to the door along with Ron. As Draco walked out, he could swear he saw him laughing. " Stupid stuck up Slytherin know it all great in potions Draco.." Harry grumbled to himself, following Hermionie out.

" Why is this such a big deal, what in the world did I create there?" The Gryffindor asked exasperated as the whole class walked towards the hospital wing. " Well Harry, it's a rare mix of potions that create 'death's shadow' as they call it, a very poisonous fume given off by the liquid that's quite lethal, which teaches you that you should really pay more attention to what you mix together before you completely destroy Hogwarts." Hermione continued as he rolled his eyes.

As he was about to reply, Draco walked past him again, this time with a mocking sneer. " Figures Potter, out of all the possible combinations it would be you to hit the one that lands us all in the hospital wing." He said with a laugh, not meeting his gaze. " Well, _Malfoy_, at least I didn't do it on purpose, which is great since there are already enough death eaters in training at this school." Harry retorted, suddenly wishing he hadn't decided to go ahead Ron and Hermionie. " Yes, Potter, and those are here to kill whatever poor soul escaped your path of destruction." Draco added with a roll of his eyes.

Harry winced at that, dropping his gaze, the memories of all the people he'd caused the deaths of coming back at him, causing his to draw in a shaky breaths.

Seeing this, the blonde frowned slightly. He'd probably gone over the line now. " Harry?" he asked quietly, as if unsure if he should care. He didn't get a response though, because Harry's posse came running after, and he let out a frustrated groan. Before any of them could reach him, he turned and sped up his pace, heading back to the groups of Slytherins further ahead with a frown.

After fending off a few more questions from Ron and Hermione, Harry sighed as they finally arrived in the hospital wind, listening half-heartedly as Snape explained to Madam Pomfrey why they all needed to get tested for poison. He watched as the Medi-Witch made her way through the group, testing each of them for traces of poison. It was going to be a long wait. With another sigh, he let himself sink in a nearby chair and lapsed back into the depressive, zombie like state. Seeing this, Ron and Hermionie threw each other worried glances. They recognized Harry's moods now, but they also knew they couldn't comfort him much in times like these.

After brooding for a long while, Harry let the room around him come back into focus, noticing that it was almost empty now, just a few more Hufflepuffs and Draco remaining to be tested. Looking up slightly, he met the blonde's stare, noticing that Draco was looking at him with something close to worry. No, that couldn't be possible. That was Malfoy, he didn't even worry about fellow Slytherins…

Turning his gaze away again, Harry sighed and stood up slowly as Madam Pomfrey approached him and started to routine tests, seeing as he was among the last left. He answered some of her questions, though he didn't pay attention to most of them. When she was finished, she returned to her office, but not before calling out a few more warnings. The Gryffindor sighed and started to walk away slowly, but didn't get very far as someone painfully clutching his wrist stopped him.

Turning to see who was stopping him, he was met with the hateful gazees of Crabble and Goyle. Strange, how could he have missed seeing them in the room. " What do you want?" he hissed out, stepping away slightly, noting that the two Slytherin's were slowly pushing him back.

" Our Lord wants you dead." One of them giggled, the sound turning into a harsh laughter, his eyes gleaming with what Harry could only describe as madness.

* * *

Back in the headmaster's office, everything was quiet, Fawkes resting on his perch, picking at his feathers. Dumbledore was concentrated on an old book, a book of wizarding family trees. He skimmed the pages uninterested until he came to a more detailed one. The page pulsed with different colors of ink that were running along the connection. The bloodlines.

Suddenly, a pulse of magic could be felt traveling through the rooms, startling Fawkes. The phoenix rose up, flying frantically across the room, chanting the same melody over and over.

Albus Dumbledore looked up from the pages in his book to Fawkes, then back to the pages in his book, smiling knowingly. " So, he is awake.."

* * *

Harry narrowed his eyes at the two Slytherins, taking another step back. He couldn't say he was too surprised to find out they were serving Voldemord too. Slowly, he reached back for his wand, only to find it gone. When he looked up, confused, Crabble was holding the wand away from him. 

" Looking for something Potter? It's no use…we got you at your weakest because we thought you'd put up a fight…guess the great Harry Potter isn't so great after all." One of them giggled again, while the other quickly whipped out his wand and shouted out a curse Harry didn't recognize.

In a matter of seconds, Harry found himself being thrown back across the room, screaming out in shock and pain as he collided with the wall, his vision fading as he sagged against it. The Gryffindor gasped as he fell to the floor, and sinking into unconsciousness he felt a sudden pulse of magic warming him, and almost soothing touch as everything blackened.

* * *

Outside of the hospital wing, Draco Malfoy stopped walking suddenly as he heard Harry's faint scream. His books clattered against the floor, and inside of him, something suddenly snapped. He felt his magic flare out, pulsing, and in a moment everything changed. He could feel himself changing, he could see everything clearly, even the darkest shadows, everything glowed like fire around him, and his mind was only screaming one thing: 'Harry'

In a moment he was flying..He didn't know how, neither did he care, as he rushed back to the hospital wing tearing down a wall that was in his way in the process. As he burst inside, he could see Harry, lying on the floor unmoving, and his former friends Crabble and Goyle, their wands pointed at him.

He let out an angry grown and lunged forward, the sound of his cry reverberating around the room.

The two boys turned at the sound, widening their eyes as they took in the sight before them. It was Draco, except the air around him was glowing red. He was flying through the air, with great, scale like wings, blood red in color glistening with magic. The Slytherins didn't have time to stand in awe though, as the blonde attacked faster than they could see.

Draco tore a deep gash in one's chest, driving him to the ground before turning to the other, lunging out blindingly fast to throw him against the nearby wall, watching him fall.

He was at Harry's side immediately, bending over the boy. " Harry, _Harry_.." he cried out, gathering the Gryffindor up in his arms.

* * *

AN: As you may have noticed already, I like to kill and or hurt people…it's just this little sadistic twitch. Still, I'm a fan on the happy ending…most of the time. And whaddya know..it's one am yet again XD 


	6. Scales and Dragon Tales

AN: Sorry it took me so long, major Internet troubles … .

Warnings: same as before, slash, as in boys kissing boys, M for later chapters

Disclaimer:J.K. Rowling did all the work, I own nothing, nada, zip, diddlysquad…well, except for the plot, that's mine :3

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat motionless on the bed in the hospital wing, clutching Harry to himself, hissing and growling at anyone that tried to come near. His grey eyes were now liquid silver, sparkling and swirling with magic. He had his dark red wings curled in a wide arch around them, ready to strike at anyone who dared come too close.

Madam Pomfrey was pacing around, frustrated, shooting angry glances at the blonde. " Albus, he won't let me near him, I'm a Medi-Witch for Merlin's sake! I'm supposed to be helping him and I can't even get closer than twenty feet!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air with a sigh of defeat.

The Headmaster let out a low chuckle, moving over to the Witch. " Poppy, you don't need to heal him. Let's leave him alone for a while and let the magic work. We'll head to my office and I'll explain everything there." He assured her, ushering her out of the room with another knowing grin.

" Come along, Mister Malfoy..we have a lot to discuss.." Dumbledore continued, looking back to the boy with an expectant gaze. " And none of that 'I'm not leaving' talk. You'd do best to listen to me, otherwise you will only end up hurting him more." The professor added cryptically, walking out of the hospital wing, leaving a scared and confused Draco behind.

The Slytherin stared after the headmaster for a couple of seconds before prying himself loose from Harry with a quiet whimper. He couldn't understand what he was happening to him, but he felt more and more distraught as he walked away from the Gryffindor.

Professor Snape was waiting for him at the door when he exited the hospital wing, motioning for him to follow as he headed for Dumbledore's office. " W..What's happening?" Draco asked, trying to keep his voice from wavering. Malfoys didn't feel emotions.

" Now, Draco…as your teacher I am obligated to explain to you your situation and help you adjust to it As your godfather…I will tell you this. If you ever growl or hiss at me like before…I will not take it lightly. " Snape hissed, looking back to Draco with an annoyed glare.

It didn't take long for them to arrive in the office, where the headmaster gestured for Draco to sit down and Snape moved to stand behind Dumbledore. " We have much to discuss…but first things first…lemon drop?" he asked, holding out a bowl of candy to Draco with an unworried smile.

* * *

Harry's eyes slowly slid open and he started to wake, shifting on the bed. He blinked confused, before realizing he was in the hospital wing. " Three galleons says I'll be back in this bed with some other injury before the month is over." He mumbled to himself, rolling his eyes.

After a few more moments, he moved to sit up, trying to remember exactly what had happened. He recalled talking to Crabble and Goyle…and them some sort of curse was fired at him…and the last thing he remembered was a pair of dark red wings.

The first part made sense, even the fact that they tried to curse him wasn't exactly surprising…but the wings bothered him. Where could they have come from…or better yet, who did they belong to. He was determined to figure that out, just as soon as the headache stopped bothering him. With a small grumble, he let himself fall back onto the bed, grabbing the pillow and pulling it over his head to block out the noise and bright light.

* * *

" I…don't…understand." Draco repeated for about the tenth time now, his expression shocked and confused. Snape let out an exasperated growl. By now, the Slytherin's wings had folded closed again and disappeared, leaving a trail of red sparkling dust behind.

" Draco, you are not human. You have to understand that. You are a magical creature." Dumbledore repeated slowly, making sure the boy fully understood before continuing. " Your kind is called Veela Draconis, the dragon veela. It's a very rare kind of magical creature, and a very powerful one as well…Do you think you can accept that? I realize the news is hard to take, but you will have to cope with it." The professor said calmly, raising an eyebrow at the panicking Slytherin.

" Y..yes..I think so." The blonde mumbled, trying to stay calm. Malfoys didn't panic. " But…what about the wings…and the transforming…and the flying…and the fire…" he started, his voice getting more frustrated by the second.

" Have patience…all will be explained…" Dumbledore chided, moving to pull an old, tattered book from underneath this desk. " This is all you will need for now." He insisted, placing the mysterious book before Draco. " It is the only information on Dragon Veela that exists…"

Draco eyed the book skeptically. For something that contained all the information about a magical creature that existed, that book seemed too thin.

" As for your room…that will have to be moved. You will be staying in a separate series of rooms…along with your mate. The book I gave you will explain everything in detail, but I think it's best you get settled in to your new rooms. I'm sure Professor Snape will be happy to show you the way." The Headmaster declared, ushering Draco out of his office and glancing to the Potions Master expectantly. Snape just huffed and started walking ahead of Draco, hating to be used as a bellboy. Dumbledore exited the room as well, but instead started heading to the hospital wing.

After being showed to his rooms, Draco was left alone to unpack the belongings that were now in a suitcase in one of the rooms. Still, he was too confused and shocked to do any organizing, so he chose to just sit down instead. The 'rooms' consisted mostly of a sort of lounge area, with a couch, table and armchair. There were two doors, both leading to the bedrooms, which were done in dark green and silver. It was all just slightly overwhelming.

It took a long while for him to notice that he was still clutching the book the headmaster had given him in his hands. He supposed it was worth taking a look at, so he sat back in the couch and opened the book, frowning slightly. All of the pages were blank. He flipped through, hoping to find some writing in it, anywhere. At about the middle of the book, to pages were written on, or more accurately, drawn on. Two large, green, lizard-like eyes stared back at him from the pages. And then, they blinked.

Draco dropped the book to the floor, pulling away, startled. He stared at the book for a few minutes, wondering if it was going to move again. Just when he thought it would remain still, the book shook once, then sort of floated up into the air, landing neatly on the table in front of him, open at the two pages depicting the eyes.

The yes seemed to bulge out, coming forward more and more until a whole head had emerged from the book, followed by the body. Before him stood a small dragon, no more than two feet tall, it's scales translucent. It looked almost like a ghost, except for the bright, green eyes. '_I don't appreciate being dropped like that, young master._' A voice rose up, seemingly coming from the creature. Draco remained unmoving, dumbfounded.

* * *

" May I have a word with you?" Dumbledore asked, stepping up the bed Harry was sitting in and pulling up a chair beside him. The boy looked up and nodded quickly, sitting up straight. " You were attacked today, by two Slytherin students. The fist thing I want to make clear is that it was not their intention…We've already sorted that part out. They were acting under the imperius curse. Of course, now the question arises of who the actual 'attacker' was. We aren't certain as to who that is, but we know it must have been someone with considerable skill and knowledge of the curse. We need to find out who did this, and soon. They might be planning bigger attacks on more of the students here. Until then, you need to be careful. I don't think it's a secret anymore that you are the primary target." Dumbledore explained with a sigh, shaking his head slightly.

" I've arranged for you two stay in a different set of rooms now, closer to the dungeons. I trust you will be properly protected there…there is just a small matter of your room mate." The Headmaster added, with a tone like that of a child that had just discovered a new toy. " Draco Malfoy."

Harry's reaction was much calmer than expected, the boy just frowning slightly. " I don't understand how being closer to that git will make me safer.." he mumbled. Unfortunately, Dumbledore looked determined to enforce his decision. Harry felt somewhat cornered, but it didn't sound that bad. After all, it looked like Malfoy might actually be human…" It could be worse…I guess.." he mumbled unhappily.

" That's the spirit! I knew you would understand." The Headmaster exclaimed, delighted. " Well then, after Madam Pomfrey is sure you're healthy, you can have a house elf show you the way." He added, standing up and turning to leave the room with a mischievous smile.

* * *

" I'm…sorry." Draco mumbled, still somewhat in disbelief that he was talking to a book. " I don't understand…what..are you? How am I supposed to find out anything about Veelas like this?" the blonde demanded, frustrated. " _Dragon Veela_." The creature corrected him calmly." _Young master, I have the information you seek._" The dragon spoke again, pausing to smell the air, tilting its head, confused. "_You are…too young…how old are you, young master?_"

" Sixteen, why? What does that have to do with anything?" the Slytherin asked, somewhat calmer now.

" _Wizards come of age at seventeen years, most magical creatures like the Veela, or in our case Dragon Veela do too. You are still human…but strangely, some of your Veela traits, the more…physical ones have already activated…You are…developing somewhat early, I should say. This is most uncommon, as coming of age and receiving your inheritance is programmed exactly in your genes._"

Daco paused slightly, letting the new information sink in. It wasn't so bad, except for the part where he was some sort of freak for transforming early. " Why did that happen?" he asked then. There must have been some reason behind it.

"_I am not certain, this has never occurred before. Still, the only reason I can imagine is that your future life-mate was in danger. Your powers must have activated early, in order to save your mate._" The dragon answered with a nod.

Draco groaned inwardly, already guessing what was coming. " It's Potter, isn't it? It's Potter.." he said, never having wished he were dreaming more than now.

" _And? What is wrong with that?_" the creature inquired, somewhat confused by the Slytherin's resentment. " It's…Potter, for Merlin's sake. The Gryffindor Golden Boy, the stuck up, all knowing hero, with his stupid sidekicks…and…" he trailed off, frustrated. "_Really.._" the dragon answered, it's voice skeptical. "_It seems that you have a problem with this boy's image…not with the boy..Remember, young master, this is new for you, so it's natural to feel unsure. But this is your life-mate, the only person who can make you happy…_" the dragon chided.

Draco shook his head slightly, trying to adjust to the new information. After a while, it seemed like he might me able to deal with it, but as soon as he started thinking about the finer details his head started spinning all over again. Instead, he tried distracting himself with something else. His thoughts ventured back to when Dumbledore told him he wasn't human. It was still hard to believe, especially since no one in his family looked…inhuman…

" Wait…why….why am I a Veela? My parent's aren't Veela…are they?" he asked confused. " _Dragon Veela._" The creature corrected him again. "_No, your parents are not, neither are your grandparents. Dragon Veela genes get transmitted by blood, but they are known to skip four or five generations at a time. When the gene is dormant, it is quickly destroyed by the Wizard's or Witch's blood, leaving then completely human.Still, there is some trace of the gene left, which is what gets passed on to the child. If the gene is active on the other hand, it starts slowly taking over the young one's blood. When they come of age, there is a period where the blood is fully transformed. The dragon blood multiplies, destroying the common blood as it does. At the age of seventeen, you will be a full blooded Dragon Veela._"

" How am I going to explain this to my father? Or worse…my mother…" Draco asked, dread clouding his voice. " Does she even know about all of this? The…dragon blood in our family?" he continued curiously.

" _No, it's not unusual for families to be unaware of the fact that the blood existed in their past. Still, Dragon Veela are as respected as they are rare. Your parents should be proud. _" the dragon said reassuringly before pausing to smell the air again. " _Your mate has arrived…good luck in wooing said…hero._" The dragon added with a wink before fading back into a soft shimmer, sinking back into the book.

Just a few moments later, Harry's voice could be heard mumbling the password that opened the door to the rooms. Draco groaned softly as Harry stepped through, pausing to glare at him. " Look…you don't bother me, and I won't bother you…I don't know why in the world Dumbledore would have me live here with you…and frankly I don't even care anymore…just…leave me alone.." he said, stomping over to one of the bedrooms and slamming the door shut, leaving a hurting Draco behind.

When Harry had come in, Draco felt so…warm..and comforted…and just pure happy. He couldn't understand it, but that started fading away as Harry spoke. His mind was telling him he should be affected by his words, that it was just Potter, but he couldn't help but feel completely and utterly hurt. After Harry had left and slammed the door shut Draco had sank back onto the couch with a small whimper.

" I can't do this." He breathed. It wasn't even a huge argument, and he was already close to crying. Bringing his hands up to his head, he pulled at his hair in frustration, screaming into one of the couch's pillows.


	7. Run Ron

AN: So sorry about spelling Gryffindor wrong last chapter…see, it's because of annoying things like these that authors have betas

**ATTENTION, **THIS IS IN A DIFFERENT STATE FROM ALL THE CHAPTERS BECAUSE MY STUPID INTERNET WOULDN'T STOP GLITCHING AND WOULDN'T LET ME EDIT MY CHAPTERS BEFORE PUTTING THEM UP. SO. I HAVE DONE ALL THE EDITING I COULD ON WORD, BUT BECAUSE OF SOME OTHER GLITCHES IT STILL ISN'T….GOOD. HEY. AT LEAST THE CHAPTER IS UP…

AN: Who knew exam month could be so BORING? … .

Warnings: same as before, slash, as in boys kissing boys, M for later chapters

Disclaimer:J.K. Rowling did all the work, I own nothing, so no yelling….no yelling –shifty eyes-

* * *

Harry spent most of the night unpacking, as in ripping the clothes out of his suitcase and throwing them across the room. The only think he probably didn't throw that night was Hedwig, her cage was neatly set up next to one of the windows.

When he finally calmed down, he allowed himself some time to think. All right, so throwing a fit wasn't exactly mature, but he hated the fact that he was stuck with Malfoy. Well, actually, he didn't hate the Malfoy part as much as he hated being moved away from his friends. He supposed the Slytherin wasn't too bad. In fact, he didn't make one rude comment since Harry had gotten here. If anything, Harry was the one being a git.

The Gryffindor groaned slightly, realizing with a pang that he had actually taken over Draco's role of annoying rude bastard. He supposed he should apologize to the other. With another small groan, he stood up and walked over to the door of his room, only to notice that there was a strange little book lying on the floor in the corridor. Picking it up, he turned the book over to look at its cover. The title read 'Veela and their cousins. A full history. ' Strange. Why would Draco be reading about Veela?

Heading to the lounge area, he was surprised to find the Slytherin asleep, surrounded by a mass of crumpled up paper. He was sort of curled up on one of the couches, and sitting, neatly perched on his shoulder was some sort of silver creature resembling a dragon. Even through its eyes glowed bright green, its body was almost translucent, like that of a ghost's.

The creature picked up one of the less tattered pieces of paper and pushed it towards Harry, seemingly trying to communicate something. Smoothing the paper out, Harry could tell it was some sort of note of apology, and it was addressed to him. Malfoy was trying to _apologize _to him? "Great." He mumbled with a sigh. " make me feel even more guilty."

There was something going on, that was obvious. Malfoy never apologized, especially not to him, there was something weird about the situation. He picked up one of his quills and scrawled a quick message ( 7pm at the Owlry –Harry ) and left it next to Draco before moving to get his books. Unlike Malfoy, Harry actually had some morning classes today, so he didn't have time to sit around. He'd sort it all out later, he decided with a nod. Still, as he moved to get his books something else had to get in the way.

The small creature was now sitting on his books, rolling around lazily. " Hey, get off, I'm going to be late. " Harry mumbled, trying to push the thing off. That didn't work however, as the small dragon reached around and almost bit Harry's hand. " That's not fair! What am I supposed to do, just carry you around the whole day?" he asked exasperated. His expression turned shocked as the creature nodded. " Hang on..you can understand me? And you still won't get off?" The creature nodded again, drawing another sigh from the boy. There was always something either trying to kill him, or begging him to save or otherwise aid it.

" Fine..I'll give you a ride _if_ you promise to bite anyone bothering me today!" Harry suggested. Oddly, the small thing seemed to be quite pleased with the deal and nodded eagerly

The Gryffindor sighed and let the animal hop onto his shoulder before picking up his books and heading to his divination class. For some reason, he didn't see as many students in the hallways as he was used to, and only realized that it was because he was early when he stepped into an almost empty classroom. " Great…could have spent the extra time sleeping.." he mumbled more to himself as he plopped down into his seat. Ignoring the few confused stares he was getting, he moved to lay his head on his arms, closing his eyes with another small yawn. He wasn't a morning person.

* * *

" Ron! For Merlin's sake, hurry up! We're going to be late for Divination. You know very well it's an important and fascinating class-" Hermione was saying, though the red hared boy didn't seem to hear a word of it. She couldn't believe the nerve of him, still halfway asleep at this hour. " We're going to have to skip breakfast because of you, I hope you know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.." she added, frowning. " Ronald Weasly, are you even listening to me?"

" Jeez…'mionie, you sound just like my mum. It's scary." Ron mumbled, looking around a pile of his books, trying to remember where he'd put his homework.

" Look, at least hurry up so we can go look for Harry." The bushy hared girl said with a sigh, fishing out the crumpled papers that were Ron's 'homework' " Here." She added, handing them to Ron.

" Thanks..yeah, let's go." Ron mumbled awkwardly, talking the papers and shoving them inside the Divination textbook he was carrying.

With that, both Gryffindors exited the Common Room, almost an hour later than usual, and headed directly for the classroom with Ron already complaining about the fact that they were skipping breakfast. If it was up to him, he'd much rather just skip Divination and spend the hour in the kitchen finding something to eat.

When they arrived at the classroom, they were glad to see that they were still slightly early. With a sigh, they both moved to take their places next to Harry when Ron let out a frightened yelp.

* * *

When Draco awoke, he winced sharply at the bright light that stung his eyes. He waited for a moment, thinking that the light was part of a dream, but the stinging didn't fade, in fact, it grew stronger. He couldn't understand what was happening until he finally sighed and opened his eyes. He didn't expect what came next.

The room was on fire, burning…everything, everything glowed. But not a soft, warm light, a strong, intense light emanating from every object in the room, destructive and dangerous. He couldn't understand what was happening. Was this some sort of spell? No, it couldn't be, the room not only looked so bright that it might have been engulfed in flames, but it felt absolutely cold. Cold as ice. It didn't make any sense.

With a whimper, he brought a hand up to shield his eyes, glancing around to try to find the source of this chaos. Finally, he noticed it. The window. That what where it all came from. The window was the brightest of all, the horrid light filtering in from outside, making everything shine so unbearably. Gathering up his strength, he sprung for the window, shutting his eyes tightly as he reached for the heavy curtains, doing his best to blindly draw them closed.

He continued on to the second window, and his frenzied efforts to block out the horrible things didn't cease until every curtain was drawn, every door was shut and there were more hexes put up to block out the light than he could count. Finally, finally the glare toned down to a level where Draco could actually keep his eyes open.

By this time, he was sitting on the floor close to the bathroom, shivering uncontrollably. Even though the light was so bright and seemingly burning everything it touched, it was so horribly cold. After a few moments, he drew in a couple of shaky breaths and stood up. He didn't know what had happened, but he needed to calm down. A hot shower would definitely help, especially with the shivering.

* * *

" H-Harry..the…there's a a .." Ron stuttered, pointing to the sleepy Gryffindor. Harry took a moment to react, moving to look up at him with a yawn. It took a moment for him to realize that Ron was talking to him, and another for him to muster up a reply. " What is it?" he asked the panicking Gryffindor.

" There's a, a thing…on you..it's glowing…and has teeth oh my _god_ get it off!" Ron said, his voice rising to a nervous pitch as his trembling finger pointed in the direction of Harry's shoulder.

Hermionie was staring at the same spot, though without the panic, just some mild interest.

" Huh? " Harry answered, raising an eyebrow before looking to his shoulder as he heard a small coughing noise. When he spotted the small dragon curled up and shaking, he realized the creature was laughing. " Ron, relax. He's harmless….and really cute." He added, moving to pet him. " What do you think I should call him?" he asked, but was cut off by Hermionie shifting closer to get a better look at the dragon, pulling out some textbooks.

" It's fascinating, I haven't seen anything like it! Harry..where did this..creature come from?" she asked, leafing through the books with references to magical creatures. For the first time, she was lost, but she wouldn't be for long. She was determined to find out everything about the dragon-like animal.

" I…don't know actually…he was with Draco when I woke up this morning." Harry answered with a slight shrug. For a moment, everything went quiet and he could feel Ron's piercing gaze on him. " Harry? What is the world were you doing with that git this morning? Did he blackmail you into something, or, try to kill you?" he asked, glowering. Hermionie stopped looking through the textbook, sending a questioning glance to him as well.

" I uh…changed rooms…we're, sort of..staying in the same rooms now. As of yesterday night." Harry answered awkwardly. Both of his friends were either shocked into silence, or too crewed out to say anything. " Guys? Please say something.." he mumbled then, looking to them with worry.

After a few seconds, Ron shook his head and started backing away. " You…are disgusting." He spat out, causing both Harry and Hermione to gasp in shock. " Ron.." Harry started, but the other quickly cut him off. " Stay away from me…just stay away from me you filthy freak, I thought you were my friend and now you're going off with _Malfoy._" He shrieked, standing up and racing out of the classroom.

" W-What? Ron…Ron! You don't understand, wait." Harry called out , moving to the door when their professor cut him off. Not even thinking about detention anymore, he shoved past her and raced out after his friend…and hopefully not his _ex_ friend.

As both students took off, Hermionie tried to follow, but was stopped by a glare and a threat for detention. Frowning worriedly, she returned to her seat as class started, glancing to the two empty seats besides her. She hoped they would be all right. Of course it seemed strange that Harry was suddenly staying with the Slytherin, but anything like this had to be discussed with the Headmaster. And she was sure Dumbledore must have had some good reason behind this. She just hoped Ron would realize that before he ruined their friendship.

* * *

Draco let out a soft sigh as the scalding water cascaded past his skin. He could feel the heat of the water, yet for some reason, he was still cold. It felt like he was freezing, except the cold was spreading from the inside out. He didn't know what to do anymore, and that stupid creature would have been of great use right now if it hadn't run off.

With another shiver, he gave up on the shower and stepped out, getting a towel and drying himself down. Well, with that idea shoved out of the way, he needed to at least find _something_ to distract himself with. After combing out his hair and getting dressed, he stepped out of the bathroom, his hand reaching for the small switch that controlled the spell for the light. He frowned slightly, noticing the light was off. No. It was impossible, he could see everything, as clear as day, it was even a bit too bright for comfort, how could all the lights be off.

He shook his head, pushing his thoughts away. He did not have time for this, he needed to get to class. Picking up his books, he moved to the door, opening only to be faced with the same horrible glare as he stepped out. Everything was so bright, he couldn't see…everything was a blurry mix of red, yellow and orange blotches, like fire. Just like fire. Backing away, he tried going back into their rooms, only feel the smooth surface of a wall against his back. No. This couldn't be happening, where in the world was the door? His breaths quickened in panic as the flame like light engulfed everything around him.

Then, just as quickly as the light came, it disappeared. Draco paused for a moment, dumbfounded, staring at the perfectly normal hallway in front of him. There was no strange light, just the normal, everyday scene. Was it a dream? Definitely not. He wanted to find out what happened, he didn't want to go through that again. With a frown, he headed over to his potions class. He really needed to find that creature before any more of this…transformation took place.

Sighing, he moved over to his seat, lucky to have arrived shortly before the potions master, who seemed in a worse mood than usual. He didn't even bother looking up from his textbook, leafing through the pages when he found a small, ripped piece of paper. Picking it up, he turned it over to read the note. It was from Harry, asking to see him in the Owelry before dinner. That was strange, the boy didn't even want to look at him yesterday evening. He cringed slightly, thinking of that night, that he'd spent staying awake trying to figure out some way to apologize.

Draco was snapped out of his thoughts as some new partners were assigned and Granger moved to take a seat next to him. Looking up, he realized the Gryffindor wasn't in the classroom. He frowned slightly with worry. Did something happen to him? Wait, why did that even matter? He was a Malfoy, he didn't feel worry…it was just curiosity…yes, curiosity.

" Granger, where is H-…Potter" he whispered, catching himself before saying his first name.

" Why are you two sharing a set of rooms?" the girl retorted, getting straight to the point.

" I asked first." Came the Slytherin's reply, who wasn't even paying attention to the potion anymore.

" Well, he ran out of Divination and never came back, your turn." Hermionie whispered back.

" I don't know..Dumbledore set it up." Draco lied, turning his gaze away. He didn't make any more contact for the rest of the class.

The whole time Snape was yelling about how incompetent they were, he kept wondering what could have possibly happened to cause Harry to run out of a class. As far as he knew, the Gryffindor's attendance was always perfect. These thoughts continued to swirl in his head, until he found himself walking out of his last class for the day. Well, he couldn't put it off any longer. Now, he'd have to go have a nice long talk with Harry, explain to the Golden Boy that he was to be his future mate, make him understand that he wasn't human and somehow still come out of it alive. Yup. This day was looking good.

When he arrived at the owelry, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, frowning at the silence that greeted him. After a few moments, he could make out soft sobs from the darkness, and stepping forward, he could make out Harry's form curled up into a miserable ball on one of the benches.

* * *

Author's note: IMPORTANT I am looking for a Beta, seeing as how my skill at proofreading is worse than that of a sixth grader's. Also, I'm sorry for the wait, but again, we are in an Internet rut right now, it's horrible. You'll get some more answers next chapter, promise. You'll even find out what the bright light that Draco saw was, if you haven't guessed it already. XD Review people….

If you think you'll want to help me by being my Beta, go ahead and e-mail or leave a review. Thanks 


	8. Twisted Time

Author's note: Allright, so I'm alive XD and past my exams, though those didn't go so well…I walked into a shelf…in any case, here's the next chapter. Sorry it's a bit shorter than the rest.

Warnings: same as always, slash, boy's kissing the works

Diclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or it's characters, just the plot that was spawned by my evil little mind…

* * *

Draco felt a pang of worry as he heard the Gryffindor crying. It was stupid, Malfoy's didn't worry, and why should he be caring about a Gryffindor anyway? He didn't know the answer to that, but it seemed that with that strange release of Veelapower, there was also a wave of emotion unlocked.

" Harry?" he asked quietly, uncertain if he even wanted to know what was wrong. He didn't have time to think that over though as the raven-hared boy looked up with surprise. " Sorry…I had a fight with Ron." He mumbled quietly. Ah, so that was the problem.

" Weasel? Well…you can't seriously expect anything sane to come out of his mouth..." Draco mumbled with a sigh. Now or never. " Look…I have to talk to you…about why we're staying in the same rooms…" the blonde started but didn't continue as he was cut off by Harry. " Yeah, about that, that's the reason Ron's mad at me in the first place, he thinks I'm conspiring against him with you or something, but it wasn't even my choice to stay there Dumbledore just decided for me. That's why _I_ wanted to talk to _you_. You've been acting completely weird too, and I want to know what's _going on_." Harry said, his voice growing to a frustrated cry.

Draco bit his lip at that, sighing. " Look, it's because of me that we ended up in the same rooms, Gods I don't even know where to start. " the Slytherin said trying to keep calm. A Slytherin didn't show emotion. A Slytherin this, a Malfoy that, he was growing tired of all these images he had to keep up.



" How about the beginning?" Harry suggested, raising an eyebrow. " That's always a good place to start..." He watched curiously as the blonde paced around the room for a moment before sitting down on a bench across from him with a thoughtful look. He didn't get a chance to speak though as the small dragon stepped in. "_ I think I'd better explain, considering that neither of you know very much." _The creature said.

Harry blinked confused. " You can talk? You can _talk_? And all this time I had to guess what you wanted? Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air with defeat. "_I was having fun.._." came the creature's response. " _Draco is not human. He is a Dragon Veela, a rare cousin of the Veela you learned about."_ The dragon said, pausing to let that sink in.

Harry let out a small groan. Why did these things always happen to him. Couldn't the world pick another person to bother? " Look…let's just…pretend, that I'm okay with that. Continue please." He murmured wearily. _" Very well. A Dragon Veela comes into its inheritance, meaning both skill and knowledge at the age of seventeen. The problem here is that some of Draco's physical traits haveactivated early in order to be able to save you from your attackers .Now the problem is this, Draco has some of the Dragon Veela powers already, but not the knowledge necessary to control it. That is why you were moved into adjacent rooms, because you help calm him and therefore help avoid any damage." _

" About that…earlier today it looked like the room was on fire…what exactly was that?" Draco asked, thinking back to the panic filled moments. "_On fire you say? Hold still."_ The dragon instructed, moving over to examine the blonde's eyes. " _Dragon Veela are nocturnal. You only require about three hours of sleep per week, and that you do during the day. Dragon Veela's eyes are very sensitive to sunlight or magic since they need to see both perfectly in the darkest of nights. Normally, you should be maintaining a barrier against this for your eyes during the day, subconsciously, but since you lack all knowledge on how to control your abilities that barrier must have weakened during the day. And I say weakened because if it would have disappeared, you would be blinded for life."_

Harry took this pause in conversation as his chance to speak. " So…if I calm him or whatever you said, I can go back to my old rooms after he turns seventeen, right? And why in the world can I calm him anyway? Aren't I, the 'Gryffindor Golden Boy' the most annoying thing to you?" he asked then, raising an eyebrow.



" Don't get so full of yourself." Draco retorted, glaring at him. "_ The truth is, you are the one who is able to influence his actions because you are his chosen mate. That is why you were moved together also, because in a way, he needs his mate to survive."_

* * *

" Ronald Weasley! Is this where you've been the whole time?" Hermione was shouting, glaring at the Gryffindor who was comfortably seated in one of the chairs in the common room, playing Wizarrd's Chess against himself. Ron pointedly ignored her, going right back to playing his game.

" Where's Harry? You'd better not have upset him, we don't even know what's going on and you act like everyone in conspiring against you. Have you even asked him why he's staying with Malfoy? Maybe it wasn't even his fault but you go right on assuming that-" she said when the red hared boy cut her off.

" I don't know where he is, and I don't care, go away." He mumbled with a glare. Hermione huffed at that, insulted. " You're impossible." She declared, turning to walk away at a frustrated pace. If Ron didn't want to look for Harry then she would. She didn't exactly know where to start, but the Quidditch field was always a good guess so she headed there first.

* * *

"_Excuse me?_ Don't I even get a _choice?" _the Gryffindor exploded, panic bubbling up at the thought. The strange thing was that the thought of being Malfoy's mate didn't really bother him, it was more the thought of being forced into it and having no way out.

" Of course you do." Draco said with a sigh, taking over the explaining bit. This he at least had some knowledge in, as he's spent quality time arguing about it with the little creature. " Though you should decide by the time I come into my inheritance because apparently, that's when things start to go insane." He added with a roll of his eyes. Stupid Veela. He couldn't have been a human, noooo, his life was too _simple_ so someone up there decided it would be fun. One of these days, he'd be ready to kill that someone.



" Good, because right now I have too much to worry about, I don't need this on my plate too. It looks like these days everyone's trying to kill me and everyone else is expecting me to kill Voldemord…and it doesn't look like any of this will change so.." Harry started with a sullen expression. " Don't get your hopes up…sorry…" he added, standing up and turning to leave.

" I have work to do." The Gryffindor said as he walked out, heading back to their rooms, thoughts whirling in his head. How was he just expected to accept something like that. There was some random…creature, for the lack of a better word, that apparently chose him to be Malfoy's life mate, and he was supposed to be fine and dandy and go along with it? Ha.

Heading back to their rooms he grabbed his potions book, some paper and a quill and proceeded to slop down on the couch. He of course had put off his homework until the last minute mostly because he hated potions. He couldn't understand any of it and he had a huge essay due tomorrow about some plant he'd never heard of.

This day was just going _so_ well.

* * *

As the door shut closed behind Harry with an ominous thud, Draco sunk to his knees. There was that strange cold returning and it was like it was trying to press the life out of him. With a shiver the blonde drew his arms around himself, wincing at the sharp pain that came with the frigid air. " W-What's happening? I can't breathe." Draco grunted with panic.

The small creature scuffled closer with a sigh. " _Young master, Dragon Veelaare also cold-blooded, relying on the warmth emanating from their mate to survive. Without your life mate you will freeze to death. The cold also comes in the early stages of your bonds, if any, when said mate is too far away. The near-rejection didn't help much either." _The dragon explained, watching the boy curiously. Everything seemed to affect him much faster than usual, probably because he was still too young.

" Didn't you say we control fire? Why am I freezing then?" Draco asked, tired of not knowing what was going on. "_That ability is a reflection of your mate's support or your determination to protect our mate. Without him, you lose that ability."_The creature added as the blonde let out a frustrated groan.

" It isn't fair, I didn't choose this, why do I have to deal with this then?" the Slytherin cried out, running his hand through his hair with another groan of protest. The creature narrowed his eyes at that, staring at him in disbelief. " _Is that truly what you think Young Master? Then let me prove you wrong."_The dragon said leaning over to whisper something in the boy's ear. As the information was revealed, Draco's eyes widened in shock. He tried to question it, though he only came to the conclusion that the creature was right, which left him with no choice.

" Fine…" he mumbled quietly, standing up with a sigh. He paused in thought for a moment before heading to the door, walking out as well, the dragon following behind him. When he arrived, he found Harry on the couch, trying to complete some sort of potions assignment. The cold was already dissipating from around him, just from being in the same room as the Gryffindor.

" You have the wrong book." The blonde said quietly, remembering their potions assignment. " I don't need you help." Harry added, his voice like acid as he gathered his things and went to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

Author's note: Next chapter Draco and Ron have a nice heart to heart chat -grins- Review people!

PS: I tried the whole beta idea, but things just work better without. It's hard to explain, and I hope you will bear with me with the spelling mistakes that slip by, because I will not be using a beta, at least not just yet.


	9. Falling asleep

AN: Well, my exams are finally over and I'm getting some peace and quiet over here. Surprisingly, I managed to do fairly well on my history exam, a subject which I'm worst at…so I'm pretty excited about that. It's nice to be without all the stress of school. On that note, I will be writing more frequently, though my time will be split up between this story and other stories of mine.

Warnings: Same as always, slash, m for later chapters

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters. All I made was the plot.

* * *

Immediately after having slammed the door shut Harry felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't really meant what he said, it was just that there were so many things happening lately, under all the stress he just snapped. He supposed he should apologise to the other. Now that he thought it through, Draco hand been surprisingly…nice lately. No shouts, no insults. There were some sneers and stupid remarks of course, but that was inevitable. It was strange really, for someone forced into this the blonde was being surprisingly cordial, which only added to the feeling of guilt.

With a small sigh, Harry moved to push the door open, still holding his potions book and quill in one hand. " Draco?" he added quietly, looking around the room only to find him sitting on the couch, legs drawn up and avoiding his gaze.

" Am I in your way again? Do you want me to leave?" the blonde asked. It sounded so unnatural for him to be speaking like this, he was a Malfoy after all, but somehow it just didn't seem to matter right now. Things weren't going particularly well, and it had only just begun. Faintly, he wondered just how much worse it would get when he turned seventeen and became a full blooded Veela. All he knew was that, if things continued this way, he'd just end up suffering a pitiful death at having not succeeded in keeping a mate. Stupid rules of life.

" No. It's fine." The Gryffindor answered quickly, biting his lip. " Look..I..I didn't mean that okay? I'm just really stressed…I mean, with the whole 'it's your destiny to kill Voldemord' crap. Life hasn't exactly been easy , and now to worry about that too." He mumbled with a sigh, plopping down on the couch beside the blonde, who turned to look at him from under his bangs.

" There's nothing that I can do about it…which is what upsets me the most..but that's no reason to take it out on you…You've been a total git but lately it's like we just switched roles. I'm sorry about that. I know you hate me, but still you've been trying to be _nice_ so..I'll try too." Harry added in a mumble, glancing tentatively to the other.

The blonde gave off a small sigh, shaking his head. " You're so…predictable Potter. All of you Gryffindors have this hero complex..it's like you feel the need to please everyone." Draco mumbled, glancing down to the book the other was holding. " Do you still need help?" he added then, raising an eyebrow. " Well, I should say: Do you want any help. Because it's quite obvious that you need it.."



Harry smiled slightly at that. Well, at least Draco was back to normal. " I don't know if you _can_help me..I'm hopeless in Potions…and Snape has so much fun bothering me about it too." The raven haired boy added with a pout.

" Are you really? Bad in Potions? Or is it just because you dislike Snape." Draco asked with a roll of his eyes. " Maybe the reason he bothers you so often is because he knew you could be good in the subject if you actually tried and not just sat there brooding about why you hate it." The boy added.

Harry paused for a moment, surprised at how blunt the other was. He had to admit Malfoy was right. He was horrible in potions, but he never really tried understanding it since he hated Snape so much. " Are you saying you can teach me how to not screw up a potion? " he asked then, thinking that it would be sort of cool if he could go up and completely freak out the potion's master.

" I'm saying that I can have you brewing a potion correctly by tomorrow…want to bet on it?" Malfoy added with a grin. Not even waiting for the other's response, he conjured up a cauldron and some ingredients he'd kept with him, then took Harry's potions book and started leafing through it.

" Hobby takes on a whole new meaning for you.." Harry mumbled, picking up a strange looking root from the pile of ingredients. He dropped in suddenly though and jumped back with a startled yelp as the thing tried to bite him.

Draco ran a hand through his hair, chuckling, trying to stifle a full out laugh. " You're hopeless." He added, shaking his head.

" Are you saying you give up?" the Gryffindor asked with a raised eyebrow, being careful to stay away from the other ingredients

" No. I'm just saying that…I'm going to be laughing at you through the night…a lot."

* * *

" Ronald Weasly. I can't believe you're still playing that barbaric game instead of looking for Harry." Hermione exclaimed, seeing as the boy hadn't moved from the chair in the common room.

" Looking for him to do what? I don't want to talk to him Mionie, he betrayed us. He's banded together with Malfoy for merlin's sake." Ron was saying, though the way he said it sounded more like whyning than an actual argument.

" How do you know that, did you even ask him? You're impossible..I can't believe you'd give up your friend like that." The girl added, shaking her head. " I was out so long looking for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere, he even missed Quidditch practice..I think right now what he really needed was your support, and what did you do? You started _yelling_at him!" Hermionie was saying, her tone growing more and more elevated as the conversation went on.

" That's it!" Ron yelled out, throwing the Chess board to the ground. " I am sick of everyone telling me what I should do. And I am especially sick of everyone always being on his side…always Harry bloody Potter, he always did everything to get all the attention, like in the Trywizard Tournament when he entered his name without telling us. And everyone's always on HIS side. I've had it." Ron was yelling, before letting out another groan and moving to stomp up the staircase to his room, slamming the door shut in the process.

" Wow.." Seamus mumbled, who had witnessed the fight from the corner of the room. " I never thought I'd see the day when Ron called Harry selfish.."

" I know.." Hermione added with a sigh. " I just hope he realizes soon what and idiot he's being.."

* * *

" It's purple." Harry stated wearily as he looked on to the thin line of smoke coming off from the cauldron. " It's not supposed to be purple..Draco. It's purple..is it poisonous again?" he continued in panic.

Draco let out another small laugh. He'd laughed a lot this evening. It was strange really, that the one person he'd be able to laugh freely around would end up to be Harry Potter. " It's fine, you just added too much of the Newt Eye powder. You have to mix it in slowly and stop when the liquid turns purple…you made it give off smoke too…The potion is okay…but the taste definitely won't be anymore." The blonde said with a sigh, then started explaining to him again how Newt Eyes affected the potion.

Harry had such a distant look, so Draco stopped once in a while to check if the other was still listening, surprised when the other nodded along. Somehow, Harry even managed to retain some on the information, and in a few hours was able to brew the required potion. Not perfectly of course, it was so much progress compared to his previous skills.

After a few more tries the Gryffindor let out a small yawn, blinking tiredly. " Oh. That's right…I forgot you need more sleep than I do now..Sorry. We can stop now. Besides, you're actually getting the hang of this. Tomorrow's potions class should be a breeze." The Slytherin added with a nod.

" N-no, 'm not sleepy." Harry added through another yawn. " We can continue." He mumbled again, but didn't finish his sentence as he slumped against the other, drifting off into a soft sleep, mumbling something incoherent.

" Who are you kidding Potter." The blonde mumbled with a sigh, drawing out his wand to get rid of the mess they'd made and put away the cauldron and ingredients. Herry's door was locked, and he didn't want to spend half the night looking for the key so he just carried the boy to his room since he didn't sleep anyway, at least, not as much as a human.

Setting him down on the bed he turned to leave though stopped as he noticed that the Gryffindor was clutching at his shirt. " Aw. Potter. Let go." He whispered, more to himself, trying to unhook the fabric from his grip. When he was unsuccessful he sighed again and sat down on the bed next to the boy. It didn't look like he was going to be able to go anywhere. Then again, he didn't sleep anyway, and he felt much more at ease when he was near the boy than when they were apart or fighting when he'd just be freezing. " Sleep well." He mumbled into the dark.

* * *

About halfway through the night, the small dragon decided to return, scuffling about the rooms before finding both the boys in one of the rooms, the Veela holding the other.

'_I knew I was right! See? You did manage to woo him, and it worked even though he's the said 'Golden boy' hmm? I was right. I was right. I love being right.'_ The creature started with something close to a giggle, jumping up onto the bed.

" Be quiet already, you'll wake him up." Draco hissed, reaching out to try to catch the thing with a frustrated groan.

* * *

Arriving in the potions lab in the morning, both Hermione and Ron sat down in their seats without saying a thing, having skipped breakfast arguing. Ron was still being completely thick headed, and Hermione refused to talk to him until he could be less of a jerk.

The classroom was about Halfway full by now, with various students still arriving, though both noted the absence of Draco and Harry, Ron more grimly than ever.

* * *

" What..time is it?" Harry mumbled again, shifting sleepily in the other's hold. He didn't really wait for a reply though and just performed a quick tempus spell, gasping at the outcome. " Aw merlin. We're late! We're really late. We already missed breakfast it'll be a miracle if we get to potion's in time." The Gryffindor exclaimed, jumping up and heading towards where he remembered the door to be, recoiling with a soft 'ow' when he walked into a wall. Blinking for a moment, he left the room, heading for the bathroom, still stumbling around from being half asleep.

Draco paused for a moment, looking after the dazed boy before sighing. " Oops." He mumbled, standing up with a small yawn of his own before heading to his bathroom to get ready.

It didn't occur to Harry until well through his shower that he'd woken up in the other's room…more so, in the other's arms. After thinking it through though, he didn't feel nearly as freaked out as he thought he'd be, especially since tonight had been the first night in months that he'd slept without having a nightmare.

After they were both ready, they started their walk to the potions lab together, neither of them mentioning the night. When they entered the classroom both had such murderous expressions that no one dared to ask why they were later than usual. Harry because he had to sit next to Ron and Draco because he had to face Pansy.



Stopping for a moment, Harry turned to head over to the other side of the classroom, dropping his books on the nearest empty spot, one next to a Hufflepuff girl. " I'm sitting here today. " he declared with a sigh. He was startled when the girl let out a small scream of joy, starting to babble loudly about how Harry Potter had finally given her attention and what not.

" Why do I always meet the crazy ones?" Harry mumbled to himself with a sigh.

* * *

As class started and the assignment was written on the board Harry grinned as he recognized the potion, realizing he'd actually be able to brew that one now. With a smile, he turned to discreetly mouth a 'thankyou' to Draco, watching him shrug in return.

* * *

AN: Okay, not Ron Draco chat here. That's because the plot changed slightly since the last time I wrote a chapter. Sorry about that, but it will come up soon enough. Now…I do have to get to work ( ah yes, darn work ) but I'll be back and writing soon :)


	10. Vicious Visitor

Warnings: Slash, boys kissing boys, the works

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters…that's all J. K. Rowling's doing…don't yell

AN: Why this chapter is up so late - I had writer's block

Why this chapter is up so late (extended version) - I had absolutely no clue what to write, and on top of that I was busy with work so I didn't spend much time on the computer. Then, out of the blue, the plot bunny just…hit me... Well, actually it was a branch that hit me in the head while I was thinking about the story…which then caused Ace to burst out laughing and call it a 'plot branch'. For those of you who don't know who Ace is…let's just say he's my best friend. In any case, I started writing…with the readers in mind. I've gotten a few comments telling me the chapters should be longer. Well, it just works a lot better for me if I make the chapters short, but I will try to up the length. Those of you that aren't bored yet and STILL reading what I have to say…this is for you. An extra-long chapter with hopefully a lot of fun

* * *

'_Please let this work, please let this work._' Harry chanted in his mind, holding one last newt eye over his bubbling cauldron. If he did everything right then, after adding this last ingredient the potion should be turning green. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure if he did everything right but by the looks of it things were going much better than usual.

" Now or never." The Gryffindor mumbled to himself, dropping the newt eye into the translucent liquid. To his surprise, the potion started slowly changing color, reaching a deep forest green, causing the boy to grin to himself. "It worked…I can't believe it worked."

"Neither can I, Potter." The potions master grumbled, who had just approached the benches, making his usual tour through the classroom. He eyed the potion wearily with an expression composed of confusion and suspicion. "The side-effects will be dreadful…even you should know not to add so much Wizard's Nettle. " he added, to which Harry pouted slightly. " Well…it's not exactly right…but it'll work right? So it should count." The boy replied with a nod. He only got another sneer in reply before Snape moved on to the next cauldron.



It took a while for the fact to sink in, that, Snape didn't even yell this time. Or give him detention. Or make him stay late and clean up the lab. This would go down as a small victory in Harry's book. He'd have to remember to thank Draco later…maybe it wouldn't be so bad staying with him after all…if he could continue to act civil of course. There was still the problem with Ron, but he had made up his mind to confront him at lunch.

As the Gryffindor thought to himself, he almost didn't notice the blonde glancing sideways at him. He mouthed another quick 'thanks' before turning his gaze to the professor who was now starting on his lecture, cloak billowing behind him as always. Somehow, Harry always imagined Snape in a superman costume at the sight…and he did seem like the type to wear a cape just…not tights. The boy chuckled to himself, noting that if he imagined Snape in the costume the class wasn't half bad.

* * *

It didn't take too long for lunch to roll around and as Harry walked towards the great hall he mentally prepared himself for a grueling one-sided argument with Ron. When he entered the large room he could spot Draco arguing with Pansy out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but laugh. Well, it looked like neither of them were going to get a quiet lunch. Sadly he was sure Draco was going to have it much easier than he…after all, fighting with an annoying classmate was one thing. But fighting with an annoying, pig-headed, insult-throwing friend? No- best friend?

Still, he was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar voice calling his name.

" Harry! There you are. I wanted to talk to you." Hermione called out when she spotted the Gryffindor, causing him to jump slightly. She got up to meet him halfway into the great hall, seemingly wanting to prevent him from getting close to Ron. " Seamus and I talked to Ron last night…I think he's a bit more open-minded now, but I think he's still going to get angry if you try to explain things to him. About that Harry, why are you staying with Malfoy? Did Dumbledore tell you anything else?" Hermione was asking, excited and chattering as always.

Harry frowned at that. He didn't exactly want to go into explaining why he and Draco were sharing a set of rooms, not even sure how Hermione would react to that. " Ah. Well…no, Dumbledore didn't tell me anything else." The raven hared boy mumbled. It wasn't a lie, it was just not telling the whole truth. He knew he could trust her, but he didn't even know the situation himself, so he wouldn't say anything until then. " And what do you mean, talked to Ron? I thought he wouldn't listen to anyone." He added, somewhat confused.

Hermione looked slightly uncomfortable at that. " Well..Seamus hit him." She replied with a small shrug. Harry had to hold back a laugh. " I see…well, I'm going to try talking to him…wish me luck." He added then, starting to walk towards his usual spot with a sigh. He paused when he was across from Ron, not sitting down yet. " I'm sorry Seamus hit you...can we talk?" he asked then, watching the red hared teen look up with something dangerously close to insanity. " Fine." The other spat out, standing to pace out of the great hall, not even waiting for Harry. The Gryffindor let out a small sigh before following.

* * *

Draco spent almost the entire day on the empty Quidditch field. He didn't bother going to the rest of his classes, since both Harry and the Weasel missed two in a row; it was already obvious that they were out arguing with eachother. But a two hour long argument? He let out a small sigh as he dodged another bludger. Playing this game was so much easier when you had wings...

He didn't even know why he was out here, he didn't need to fidget over Potter, yet here he was, dodging bludgers aimlessly just waiting for…he didn't even know what he was waiting for, but he wasn't about to spend half a day in boring classes without Potter to annoy.

Flying was hard to control. Sometimes he fell if he lost concentration…his wings were hard to control, he'd fall almost to the ground before his subconscious kicked in and saved him. The first time he thought he was going to die and was cursing himself through the fall for forgetting his wand. What good would a Malfoy be if he was killed by falling on a Quidditch field. Stupid Veela.

Then again, everything about these 'new abilities' was hard to control. Come to think of it, the only time he was ever at ease now was around the Gryffindor…Somehow all the abilities just…calmed down around him. It still annoyed him to no end that he was stuck with Potter, but he found it was a lot easier just being civil.



It was also annoying that he was always so uncomfortable and freezing when the other wasn't around, but that was more because the idiot had gotten himself attacked and activated some of the Veela traits early. All in all he supposed it was better this way, to have some idea of what was coming then to have it all sprung on him the day he turned seventeen.

* * *

Harry was just trudging outside to the Quidditch field wanting to get some fresh air. The argument with Ron hadn't lasted too long, but afterwards he'd spent his day running around the school looking for him since the boy just ran off. He needed a break, and the Quidditch field was just the place. What he didn't expect to see there was the blonde Slytherin, flying around with the bludgers loose. There was one bludger that looked particularly close to hitting him before the boy avoided it.

" Malfoy. Are you _trying_ to kill yourself because I can think of much less messier ways." Harry called out to the other, to which Draco turned, startled. He drifted back to the ground with a roll of his eyes, his scale-like wings folding behind him with a magical shimmer. " I was not trying to kill myself Potter, that's just your observational skills missing most of the action." The blonde retorted.

Harry didn't really listen to the comment however, as he was reminded of that attack from Crabble and Goyle by the pair of red wings. He'd spent a while wondering who those wings could have belonged to and had actually never seen Draco with them. Now he realized that the Slytherin was actually the one who saved him. " Are..you still alive?" the Slytherin added, raising an eyebrow at the other's vacant expression.

" Cool." Harry mumbled, moving forward and reaching out to brush his fingers past the feathers. The wings looked so…comfy." They look like scales…but it's soft." He added with a small smile, that fading instantly as he accidentally plucked one of the feathers off. He stared at the small red feather left in his hand with dread. " Aw. Crap. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, are you okay?" Harry started, causing the Slytherin to roll his eyes again. " It was an accident, I could try to fix it with a spell but I think the side effects wouldn't be good and.."

" Potter." Draco said, since that seemed to be the only way to get his attention. It's like losing a hair…it doesn't hurt, I didn't even notice it, and it happens all the time, just like your owl, stop….flailing like that." He added, pausing for a moment to let the information sink in before continuing with a sigh. " Don't you have class right now?"

Harry harrumphed at that. " I could ask you the same thing!" he said indignantly, crossing his arms as he raised an eyebrow. " You go first," the Gryffindor demanded sternly. " Fine. I was playing Quidditch to warm up because I was freezing and I got bored of class so I skipped, your turn." Draco answered flatly, gesturing vaguely with one hand as he spoke.

" Yeah…I skipped too…this is becoming a condition..we're both going to end up as dropouts." Harry mumbled more to himself with a hint of dread in his voice. " Anyways." He cleared his throat before speaking. " I tried talking to Ron again and he..well, said something that kind of worried me and then..took off. I've been looking for him since..Searched all over the place too, nothing.." the raven hared boy added with frown. " Go on." Draco prompted, mildly interested.

" Well, at first he was just being a git but then I think everything started to sink in and he realized that I was in fact not 'conspiring against him'.." Harry started, putting a mocking twist on the word 'conspiring'. " So then he got the idea that you tricked me into staying with you because you want to hand me over to Voldemord and then decided that he was going to go and 'fix everything for me' and frankly the 'fixing' part is the one that has me worried." He finished, slightly out of breath from saying all of that in one go. " He's delirious I don't know _what_ he'll try to do.."

" Fixing it implies that he'll interact with either you or myself to set this little plan of his into motion, which he hasn't done yet, meaning he's still 'plotting' and considering this is _Weasel_ we're talking about…I'm not worried." Draco drawled, rolling his eyes yet again. Harry paused for a moment at that, shrugging slightly. " I guess you're right…and I can't find him anyway…should we just go back? It's no use heading to the last…ten minutes of class now." He added with a sigh.

* * *

" Why were you freezing anyway? Don't you control fire, and wouldn't these keep you warm too?" Harry asked, curious, still holding the small red feather. The Gryffindor had hung onto it, even after Draco had told him several times that it didn't hurt and to just stop panicking. " We can see waves of magic and have more control over that than wizards, that's it. The ability to control fire is a reflection of our mate's support. No support, no controlling fire." Draco answered bluntly, walking briskly ahead of him. They were both headed back to the rooms after one final, unsuccessful search for Ron.

" Oh." Harry mumbled, feeling slightly guilty. In a way, he didn't want to make anyone suffer or anything like that, but he still wanted a choice in the way he lived. This whole Veela thing seemed too…_final_. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind of the thoughts. " So you're just cold all the time then?" he continued with a small frown. " Most of the time, yes. Without our mates we will literally freeze to death…unfair, isn't it?" he added, voice emotionless.

" Yeah…but being told you either have to be with a person that was your enemy ever since you can remember and has treated you like dirt or kill them isn't fair either." Harry retorted with a huff, speeding up his pace to match the other's.

" You chose me as your enemy."

" You were mean."

" You were stupid."

" No I wasn't"

"Yes you were."

"Nno" Harry retorted, dragging out the word and making it seem like it contained two syllables instead of one. " I wasn't"

" Yes. You were Potter. And don't you say you weren't. We'll start sounding like five-year-olds soon."

Harry chuckled at that. " _Start_?" he added with a small laugh.

It was strange how at ease he could feel around the Slytherin now, but he couldn't say that he minded the change. The whole 'be his mate or kill him' thing was still making him uncomfortable, but he'd decided to just take things one at a time. For now, the focus was on just getting used to sharing a set of rooms with Draco, and that was going quite well. When he wasn't being so pig-headed, the other was actually pretty good company.

When they'd gotten down to the dungeons to the portrait of Nicholas Flammel that guarded the entrance to their rooms, Draco mumbled the password, raising an eyebrow expectantly when the painting didn't budge. " For what it's worth." The portrait started. " I feel sorry for you." The man mumbled before the painting slid to the side to reveal the room.

" What was that about?" Harry asked, confused, trying to think of what the man could have meant. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a low, guttural growl that was more menacing than any he'd heard before, and it was coming from the blonde. " I don't know what he meant, but that _Weasly_ of yours somehow got into our rooms, his stench is on everything." The Slytherin added, stepping through the door with a murderous expression.

" Wait, what?" Harry added as he followed, confused. " How could he, he doesn't know the password…he couldn't have gotten in-.._RON?_" Harry started, and then finished with a small, shocked gasp as he found the Gryffindor sitting on their couch, arms crossed and glaring at Draco. " How…why…what are you _doing-" _he started, but was now cut off by a very angry Veela.

" Weasley. I think you're a bit lost. Get out, before I hurt you." Draco said, his tone icy as he glared at the obnoxious teenager on the couch. What bothered him most was not the intrusion but the fact that everything now _smelled_ like him. Since some of his abilities had awakened his sense of smell was much stronger, and though he found Harry's scent somewhat soothing, this one was abysmal.

" Actually, I'm not lost, I live here now…" Ron answered indignantly, adding on a small smirk as he continued to glare at the Slytherin. Harry blinked at that, shaking his head. " I'm sorry, I just hallucinated there, _what?_" he started, at a loss for words. What, did the other just wake up and decide to switch rooms, just on a whim??



" Yep. I went to Dumbledore, told him all about how Malfoy's trying to manipulate you and suggested that you need my help, so now I officially live here to keep him away from you…and here's the letter from Dumbledore in case you thought it was too good to be true…face it Malfoy, you can't kick me out now." He added, sticking out his tongue to the Veela while holding up the piece of folded parchment from the Headmaster.

Harry and Draco were both silent for a few moments, Harry trying to stop himself from screaming and Draco trying to stop himself from murdering the boy. " Where are you even going to sleep?" Harry started then, hoping to reason with him. " This was designed for two people y'know, and you can't have the couch since that's where I do my homework.." he pushed.

" That's okay, I already figured that out, all my stuff is already in your room, we can share a bed right Harry? " Ron added with a nod. " We're dreaming, right, this is just a nightmare?" the blonde whispered to Harry, dread clouding his voice. " I wish." The other replied with a sigh.

* * *

" Great, now Ron disappeared too, where are they…do you think they're fighting still." Hermione was saying, pacing around the Gryffindor common room, a large book in her hand. Since there was not much she could do to help harry at the moment she was trying to do research on that strange, dragon-like creature she'd seen with him earlier.

Seamus, who was sitting in one of the chairs, sighed loudly. " I don't know…I just hope that that punch set Ron straight…he can be so hard-headed sometimes.." he added, though silently he just wished he'd hit him harder…that boy was really being an idiot now.

" It's really late…are you still going to stay up to try to figure this all out Hermione?" he asked then, stifling a yawn. He only got a small nod in reply, as the girl was already immersed in one of the books. " Allrighty then, I'm going to go get some sleep…if we're lucky, we'll wake up tomorrow to find this was just one really weird dream." He added then, though he knew that wouldn't happen.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was pacing around his room, the letter from Dumbledore clutched in his hand. He'd been trying to find some loophole, something that would allow him to kick that annoying Gryffindor out of their rooms for good, but to no avail. He was only getting more and more frustrated, and the fact that everything carried Weasley's scent was making him nauseous.

Just then, there was a soft knock on his door, accompanied by Harry's quiet voice. " Draco?" The Slytherin raised an eyebrow, but went over to open the door, only to find a red-eyed, frowning Harry with his covers bunched up under one of his arms. " I'm sorry. But he's driving me insane…can I just stay here for the night, please? I'll sleep on the floor and make no noise, promise, it's just, he _snores_ and he moves constantly and kicks…really hard, I think I have bruises." The raven hared boy added, his voice tired and grouchy.

Draco scuffed slightly, but stepped aside to let the other in. " I don't sleep, not as much as you anyway, so there's no reason for you to sleep on the floor…and if anything, I'll be the one keeping you up." He added though he didn't mind having him there. There was strength in numbers after all, and this was the 'we hate Weasly and want him skinned alive' club room now.

" We have to get rid of him, and soon, you have to talk to Dumbledore." Draco started then as Harry crawled up on the bed with a small yawn. " Why me? 'm tired." Harry replied in a mumble, grabbing a pillow and fluffing that up slightly.

" Well, I don't mean now, in the morning, and because he likes you, he'll listen to you..we can't possibly have him stay here." The Slytherin hissed, though trying to keep his voice calm. Malfoys didn't panic. Harry just grunted in return, plopping down on the pillow tiredly.

* * *

Well past the middle of the night, both boys were curled up on the bed, Draco stretched out with his wings folded beside him and Harry almost draped over him, lying on one of the wings instead of a pillow since those were much softer and much more comfortable anyway. However, both were wrenched from their sleep by a sharp, loud, messy noise penetrating the walls of their room. Draco groaned in frustration as he recognized Weasley's voice while Harry performed a quick tempus spell, revealing that it was barely five AM.

" Oh God, what now?" Harry groaned.

" Why is he wailing like that?" the Slytherin complained. Dragon Veela didn't sleep much, but when they did it was much like cats, being woken up from their sleep was horrible.

" I don't know…it's like he's trying to- wait…is he…is he _singing?_" Harry gasped, wondering what in Merlin's name would possess him to do this at five AM in the morning.

" Nope…right now he's singing…soon, he'll be _dying_."

* * *

AN: Well, at about the middle of this chapter, I stopped writing because I got horribly sick . with a stupid throat infection and fever that kept me down forever...it's one am yet again, I have school and work tomorrow and I _am_ supposed to be studying for my French quiz tomorrow too…but yeah, I'm doing this… XD


	11. Anything would have been better

**AN**: SO I did my internship at a freight forwarding company in air exports and it was really fun but a ton of work so when I get home I'm always so tired I just go to sleep. Hence ( I heart the word hence ) I am writing this in my lunch break WOOOOOOOOOOOO **Also **there is quite a bit of shouting in this chapter (among other things)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, which you should already know if you've read my past chapters (and you should always read the author's note because it's witty and enlightening)

Warnings: Okay these you've probably figured out by now and if you haven't just go read the past warnings please…

* * *

"Oh! Harry you look horrible, what happened to you?" Hermione exclaimed, watching the boy walk into the great hall at breakfast looking like he just got run over by a train. His appearance was dismal and gloomy and his expression betrayed nothing but frustration and exhaustion.

"Ron." Harry replied simply, not bothering to sit down. He'd decided that with this much going on it wasn't fair not to tell Hermione anything since she had always helped him out. Besides, deciding to wait until he was sure of things to tell her was stupid, it wasn't like he was _ever_ going to be sure of anything really. "Do you have a minute?" he mumbled then, stifling a yawn.

"Of course." The girl replied immediately, standing up. "How about the owlry?" she suggested, watching the boy nod in return, his actions delayed by his lack of sleep. With that they both started out of the great hall, walking at a slow pace since Harry was tripping over almost everything on the way there.

A few minutes and some scratches later (who knew the railings were so pointy?) they arrived at the owlry, closing the door behind them. Harry was greeted by Hedwig, the snowy white own with an attitude problem, which he proceeded to pet lightly.

"Well..." Harry started " You're pretty much the smartest person I know…so I know you've figured out a few things on your own, so…what do you know so far?" he asked, proceeding to sit down on the floor with another small yawn. He hadn't gotten any sleep because of Ron and now he was completely out of it, he was so tired that he was barely noticing anything around him, including crucial things like walls or stairs.

"Oh, well, I don't know about that..." the girl replied, flustered by the compliment. " But I did find out a few things…like the fact that Malfoy is a Veela and since you've been moved in with him I'm guessing that you're his mate.." she started, knowing that her guess was right on target.

"Wow." The Gryffindor mumbled, not even bothering to ask how in the world she'd figured it out. "Well, yeah, pretty much. He's not seventeen yet but I have to stay around him anyway because some powers apparently activated early or something like that…" he added with a small shrug, the topic making him frustrated again.

"Really...that's interesting, activated early? I'll have to look it up..." Hermione mumbled to herself, making a mental note to pass by the library in one of the breaks. She looked up however as Harry started speaking again. "Anyway, Ron thinks I'm conspiring against him with Draco and he's gone crazy and convinced Dumbledore to let him move in with us and he's purposefully driving us insane and this morning he was singing and Draco broke his arm and his nose and now Ron's in the hospital wing and Draco's arguing with Dumbledore and.." he was saying, thought the last few words came out slightly choked since he was running out of breath, saying all of that in one go.

Hermione stood still for a moment as all of that sunk in. " That _IDIOT_, he said he was going to try to apologize, when I see him he will be in so much trouble, I hope Seamus hits him again this time he really deserves it." She hissed out, pacing around the room, somewhat surprising the boy with the sudden outburst.

However, Harry just shrugged before drawing his knees up to his chest with a sigh. " I just wish he'd believe me…I mean, I've never given him any reason not to trust me…and if I tell him the whole truth now he'll just flip out." He mumbled, his expression grim. "Kind of hypocritical actually, I want him to trust me but I don't trust him enough not to flip out to tell him the whole thing..."

The girl's lips curved into a small frown as she moved to sit on the floor next to him, snaking an arm around his shoulders, noting for a moment how eerily thin he'd gotten over the summer. "You're doing nothing wrong Harry, he's being an idiot, we all think that…of course he should trust you more, you would never conspire against _anyone_, that's just ridiculous…We're going to go talk to him…all of us. Seamus, you, myself…and now Malfoy too of course." Hermione added, but at the mention of Draco Harry just flinched slightly before dropping his head gracelessly to his knees.

This of course confused the Gryffindor prefect who looked to him with concern. "It's not just Ron that's upsetting you is it….what did Malfoy do? Should I get Seamus to hit him too? Or…" she started, but was interrupted by Harry shaking his head. "It's not…he didn't do anything it's just…" he tried, but trailed off with a sigh. In that time, Hermione waited patiently, knowing that the boy couldn't express himself easily when he was upset. "Alright, I'll explain." Harry mumbled, feeling slightly fortunate for having her to talk to since she never got mad at him, but was always the first one to tell him if he was being an idiot.

"First, I had no choice in the matter, and I find it really unfair, I mean, be his mate or let him die? That's not really a choice, not for me at least. What if he's not…the right one, then what, I'm stuck with him and will never find someone I can be happy around?" he asked. "And he's...he's being so civil…I mean, there was no choice for him either so I expected him to be…mad. And he's being so nice and doing all these things, like bringing me a blanket when I'm cold and jumping to get me lunch and it's makes me feel horrible that he's just doing those things because the stupid Veela thing chose me as it's mate…He probably hates being forced into that and when I ask him something he always thinks before answering so as not to upset me…I feel like I'm just _using_ him." He moaned, frustrated and beyond stressed especially with Ron being a git.

"Are you serious?" Hermione answered in disbelief, causing Harry to glance sideways to her, confused. "Oh Harry haven't you paid attention in class at all? That's not how it works for a Veela…now I don't know about Dragon Veela; I couldn't find much information on them but from what I gather things work almost exactly like they do for a regular Veela concerning the mate."

"What do you mean?" Harry mumbled then, raising his head slightly, more interested now. "There is no 'Veela thing' that forced him into this, the only thing the Veela genes do towards that is remove all prejudices or loyalties and whatnot and search for the one person that matches that Veela's wants and needs, the one person that could make them happy, their mate and then forms an early connection with them because Veela need that bond with their mate to survive." She explained, but sighed slightly at the other's clueless expression. "He was probably shocked at first to find out you were his mate, but unconsciously he was the one that chose you, and as he realizes this he'll of course try to win you over, to do nice things for you, not because he's forced to by something, but because he _wants_ to." She added, letting that sink in before continuing.

Harry leaned his head back on his knees in thought. So…Draco wasn't forced into this like he was? "Now, you're right, the choice you have isn't very fair, especially for you because you could never just kill someone like that, but think about it, if you put aside how he acted before and just look at how he behaves around you, do you feel capable to like him?" Hermione asked expectantly. "I..." the boy started uncertain. "Yeah…I do…I do like him."

"There, and isn't it a bit comforting that that will only get better because he'll love you and never leave you because you are the one person that can make him happy, his mate?" she continued, to which Harry just blushed slightly now. "And, a Veela and their mate are connected through a magical bond because they are soul mates, so it works both ways. He is the only one that can make you truly happy, so even if you were given a real choice, why would you choose otherwise?" the girl finished in a sort of motherly tone.

After a few minutes Harry's voice broke the silence. "I'm being an idiot aren't I?" he added with a sigh. "Absolutely." Hermione responded, standing up. "Now...let's go, we have something to settle." She continued, reaching for the boy's arm to pull him to his feet. Harry grunted in protest, as it was quite a bit of work standing when he was so sleepy. "Where 'r we going" he mumbled, though he was already being pulled along out of the room. "Hospital wing."

* * *

Draco Malfoy couldn't have been more frustrated as he walked; more like plowed, down the corridors of Hogwarts, having just finished a three hour long argument with Dumbledore. Snape would have been helpful but he refused to get in the argument, calling Draco an over reactive teenager which almost resulted in him getting attacked. Really, today, Draco had but a sliver of his temper left. After much, much debating he'd managed to get the Headmaster to remove Weasley from his and Harry's rooms. What he needed now was to just sit down with a nice cup of expensive tea until the urge to kill someone subsided.

He wasn't exactly paying much attention to anyone around him, he figured they could see him coming and accordingly move out of the way but one figure didn't even budge and before he could slow down he'd already collided with the other, sending the other sprawling back. As he did, however, he caught a glimpse of the bright green eyes that could have only belonged to harry and reached out to catch him before he hit the ground, pulling the boy against him to steady them both.

* * *

When the Slytherin had collided with him, Harry had no idea what had happened and by the time he could react with his slowed reflexes a pair of arms had already caught him and he found himself face to face with no other than Draco, who was looking to him apologetically. "I'm sorry." The blonde started. "Are you alright?" he asked before noticing the other Gryffindor with him. "Granger." He added, inclining his head. No one said he immediately had to be nice, but he supposed he should at least be polite. "Malfoy." The girl replied, returning the nod.

"It's a good thing we ran into you...or, you ran into Harry…we were just about to go kill Ron and it would be good if you could join us." She added, looking back to the raven hared boy that staggered to reclaim his balance. "I'm okay..." Harry mumbled then, running a hand through his hair and averted his gaze, being more than a little confused about everything at the moment. He wasn't sure if he should confront Draco about the whole mate deal, and he _really_ didn't want to be facing Ron today either.

The Slytherin considered the offer for a moment, a hand still on Harry since the boy didn't seem to have much balance. "I suppose I could add killing Weasley to my day." He replied then, to which the girl smiled contently and grabbed hold of Harry's hand again to continue pulling his towards the hospital wing with Draco following closely.

The walk there was silent, during which Draco's eyes were practically glued to the smaller boy. He'd gotten up earlier so this was the first time he'd seen Harry today and frankly it worried him how tired and unresponsive he was. Since Dragon Veela barely slept anyway Draco wasn't suffering from any lack of sleep but it seemed it had affected his mate greatly…or...potential mate of course. Harry had made it clear he hated the idea, which only sent Draco into a series of depressing thoughts as they headed towards the Hospital wing. Truthfully, since the Dragon had made him realize that it was in fact him that had chosen this, it made him pay much more attention to Harry, his appearance, temper, behavior, everything, and the more he did the more he realized that he did want to be close to the other, if only he'd let him.

* * *

Inside the Hospital Wing, on a bed strategically placed away from any other patients or innocent bystanders, Ron Weasley was having a fit. He was screaming, all the while throwing everything in sight against the nearest wall, all with his uninjured arm of course. "That _BASTARD_, he _attacked me_, how could he all I did was try to help but nooo, he has to go all berserk and that_ Harry_ sided with him like some pawn." He was screaming out, saying Harry's name as if it was some sort of poison. It was about at this moment where the trio walked in, where Ron had just thrown an empty potion's bottle in the direction of the door.

Seeing the bottle fly towards them, coupled with the yelling Harry winced, jumping to the side, though the motion proved unnecessary as Draco snatched up the bottle from the air with inhuman reflexes, his eyes trained on the screaming boy with an icy glare. Hermione moved forward, opening her mouth to start yelling back but was stopped by Harry grabbling her arm. The girl turned and gave him a sympathetic look before letting him step forward.

"Gods, Ron _why_ are you doing this?" Harry started, his voice distraught and somewhat fearful of the crazed teenager. "Why? _WHY?_ Because you're conspiring against me with him, you sided with _Slytherin_, you _betrayed_ me!" Ron started shouting as Harry let out a small gasp. "What do I have to do to get you to understand that I'm not? When did I ever give you a reason not to trust me? Why would you immediately assume that I'm pure evil and all my actions are meant to be against you?" Harry started, now close to yelling himself. At that, Ron hopped off the bed and towards Harry, pulling up his sleeve to reveal the bandages that wrapped his broken arm. "Oh really? If you're so trustworthy why would you sick your stupid pawn on me to break my arm then, how is that being trustworthy?"

"I didn't tell Draco to do that." Harry retorted. "Though, honestly, I'm glad he did, Ron you _invaded_ our room and purposefully tried to drive us out, and stop using words like conspiring and pawn…Draco's a Veela…and I'm his mate, okay? That's why I didn't want to tell you anything, because you would _flip_ like you are now." Harry cried out, causing a strange silence to befall the room. Hermione was silent because she was shocked that Harry decided to tell him, Draco was silent because the fact that Harry told someone that he was his mate would mean there was some hope that he wouldn't be rejected when he came into his inheritance and Ron…Ron was in pure shock.

"You..." Ron started, stepping forward to stare at Harry in disbelief before his expression changed to pure disgust. "You disgusting _monster!_ Merlin how could you do something like that…it's just…wrong, and horrible…you're horrible. That's the reason…that…that's even _WORSE_" the red hared boy yelled out, to which Hermione let out a gasp, staring horrified at her friend. Harry stood rooted to the spot, frozen in shock. "I...I thought we were friends Ron…what do-" Harry started weakly, but was stopped as Ron's fist collided with the side of his face, hard, sending him staggering backwards.

Seeing this, Draco rushed to catch his mate, placing himself in between the two and letting out a murderous growl as he tried his hardest not to immediately kill that boy. Hermione was also beside them in a split second, trying to hold Ron back. "Friends? _FRIENDS?_" Ron started. "I could never be friends with something like you, how could you? You…you…anything would have been better than this, I'd rather you were _dead, Potter."_ The boy snapped, pausing to glare at Harry one last time before storming out of the room, Hermione running angrily after him.

The room that was filled with shouting just a moment ago was now deathly silent, Draco still holding the unmoving boy with a worried look. "Harry?" he whispered, just as he felt the Gryffindor slip between his arms to fall to the ground on his knees, silent tears starting to stream past his cheeks, replaying those words over and over in his head, what he'd just hear his best friend say. _I'd rather you were dead, Potter_. He vaguely felt Draco's arms hold him close as he knelt beside him, barely felt the Slytherin's fingers through his hair. Suddenly, as everything hit, it was overwhelming and Harry couldn't help breaking into violent sobs that shook his frail form. He cried, not being able to stop, to the point where he exhausted himself so much with the sobbing that he couldn't even stay awake anymore, and he was still sobbing quietly as he blacked out, feeling Draco's arms tighten around him as he succumbed to unconsciousness.

* * *

Midnight found Draco on his bed, still holding Harry's unconscious form, his expression horrified. Harry had been so hurt, and Draco had felt, was still feeling, so useless, not being able to do anything for his mate. He'd sat here with him since he'd carried him back from the Hospital Wing, refusing to let go. He didn't know what else to do. Seeing Harry break down, having him collapse like this made him realize just how much the boy meant to him. With another small whimper the Veela dropped his head to rest it on Harry's shoulder, the blond stands of hair twisting together with the raven ones.

It had been some time since Harry had woken up, but he hadn't moved at all, hadn't given any indication that he was awake, just leaned against Draco silently. Eventually, he broke the silence. "He wants me dead. I made him hate me." He rasped, meaning to whisper but his voice had been distorted from all the sobbing. At the sound Draco's head snapped up, startled. "Harry." The blonde breathed out, watching the boy straighten up. "No, it wasn't your fault…how could it be, it wasn't your fault." He started, hugging the boy close. Harry remained silent for a moment before continuing to speak with a sigh.

"Draco. What do you think of me?" he asked, leaving the blonde slightly taken aback by the question. "I think…that you're horrible in potions, that you're annoying…that you're bad at arguing, that you have this Gryffindor hero complex…but that you are kind, and selfless, and that you value your friends, that you've been through a lot, and that you've been judged a lot without reason…and that you absolutely did not deserve Ron saying that." Draco ended firmly, stroking the other's hair softly. Somehow, that collection of insults and statements made Harry feel…better, like someone finally understood him, and in that moment he made up his mind.

"Thank you." Harry said softly, looking to Draco intently before leaning in, close enough to brush his lips past Draco's, drawing a gasp out of the blonde. Harry was so close, his scent intoxicating and the feel of his lips a mesmerizing touch, driving the Veela's so needy of his mate's touch. "Harry...are you sure…this is what you want. If we kiss…we'll form the first bond, there's no going back." Draco chocked out, trying his hardest not to seize the other's lips just then. "Yes." Harry breathed out, closing the gap between them, drawing the other into a soft kiss.

* * *

AN: GASPETH, finally done…stayed overtime at work for this too, hope you guys appreciate it *glare* What I would apreciate would be muffins...the more creative the muffin the better, pelt me with muffins!


	12. A Wall and a Kiwi

AN: Hellooooo, my dears. (Yes, I can call you that because it's not like anyone actually reads these author's notes…) Alright, please stop telling me the definition of schizophrenia, I got it, I was wrong, I didn't know, I did my research now and I know that; that line was out of place. I barely have enough time to write now so going back and changing it would be a huge pain because I don't have the files for that chapter anymore. So. How about this: I promise you, those scrutinizing readers that I love so much :P that once I finish this story I will rewrite it, make it more polished and re-post it. Until then how about pretending that Harry was a little out of it as he was in a Hospital bed after having hit his head pretty hard 

Disclaimer: Um..I don't own Harry Potter…and I also can't type without looking at the keyboard… sorry

Warnings: Same as always, but if you need a refresher click back to the first chapter, either that or read on and figure it out for yourself X3

* * *

As Harry pressed closer to Draco, deepening their kiss he could feel a wave of magic going through him, settling in his chest. It felt oddly warm, and with it came an array of different feelings, some confusing, some comforting and some plain frightening. "H-Hey…something feels…weird..." the raven hared boy managed to mumble though the kisses. "First bond…nothing to worry about…stop talking." The Veela growled against his lips, pushing him back onto the bed, bringing a hand up to run his fingers through the black strands of hair, drawing an appreciative grunt from the boy.

After a few moments their lips parted as Harry needed to breathe. "First bond…of how many?" the raven hared boy asked then, looking up at the blonde with lips slightly parted. Draco sighed at that, pulling back slightly to prop himself up on his elbows above Harry.

"I guess I should explain…There are a few different bonds, the first one is called the 'acceptance' and is forged by a kiss where both have to participate willingly; for the next bonds the order varies from couple to couple. There is the 'connection' which is the complete physical bond, sex in other words; the 'existence' which is usually the most difficult as both have to grow to love one another and admit it and lastly the 'protection' which is an exchange of magic that allows me to feel when you are in danger and is usually created with the first bond, that's what you felt before."

Harry frowned slightly at that. "Did that dragon thing explain this to you because it won't tell me anything it just keeps getting in my way..." he complained, making a small mental note that they had yet to give it a name. "Not exactly. Because we completed the first bond I gained access to some of the Dragon Veela knowledge that I'm supposed to have, even though I haven't come into my inheritance yet…I barely know anything…although I'm sure I can fly now, thank Merlin." The blonde said with a roll of his eyes, glancing back down to his new mate. A slight thrill passed through him at the idea. Harry had accepted him!

"Are you okay?" Harry asked then, snapping the blonde out of his thoughts. He watched Draco nod, a smile spreading slowly on his lips. "Yes. Just happy." he mumbled back, leaning down to kiss the Gryffindor again.

"So. What does the first bond even mean?" Harry asked after they'd broken the kiss. "It means I can feel when you are in danger, we can sense each other's emotions if they are strong enough, we can share our magic and therefore heal each other to a certain extent; it means if you die, I die." The blonde explained with a small shrug. He wasn't very good at displaying affection so most of the time he just chose not to. "We're…that connected?" the Gryffindor asked in awe. "Yes. And because the bond is new we have to stay close to each other for a while, until everything adjusts, otherwise everything will happen similarly to a rejection. I'll freeze and you'll go depressed…"

"Oh." Was Harry's all too smart reply. "This'll be interesting to explain to the school." He added absent-mindedly. "What time is it anyway? How long was I out?" He knew he'd just woken up but wasn't even sure if it was day or night. "It's five AM, we still have some time before our first classes, and I say our because I'm going to have to go to Divination with you for some time..." Draco drawled, pushing a few strands of blonde hair away from his eyes. "Just go to sleep, I can feel you're exhausted, I'll wake you in time for class." He suggested, moving to get up, meaning to leave Harry alone in the room to sleep. He was stopped, however, by a hand clutching at his sleeve. "Stay." The boy mumbled. "It's more comfortable when I can lie on you…please?" Harry continued. Draco obliged and moved to pull his mate up into his arms, lying back on a pillow. It was strange to think that a few years ago they were sworn enemies. Lately the Malfoy had started to let things go and stopped hating him just because of his name and when awakening as a Dragon Veela he started seeing Harry through new eyes; ones without prejudice; and everything he learned about the boy, he loved.

He was pulled from his thoughts again as Harry shifted to curl up on top of Draco, mumbling a quiet 'g'night'. Draco brought a hand up to run it softly through the boy's hair, gazing at him thoughtfully. "Only you could manage to make me so emotional Potter." He sighed in defeat.

* * *

"We…are in so much trouble..." Seamus mumbled, looking down at the unconscious form of Ronald Weasley lying on the grass outside of the school. Hermione, who was standing next to Seamus, let out a small sigh. "He was being so…unreasonable…we had to beat some sense into him. I just…didn't think he'd be fainting so fast; we barely touched him." Seamus continued. "Do you think we overdid it?"

Hermione shook her head quietly to answer. "You weren't there Seamus, you should have seen Harry's face…I don't care if he meant it or not, he's a bloody imbecile. I know…I _know_ he's still Harry's friend, but this time he really crossed the line. I don't know why he reacted this badly...there was only ju-" Hermione said, but was interrupted by a rather large grunt coming from behind them.

Seamus and Hermione both spun around quickly, only to be greeted by Hagrid's familiar face. However, the game-keeper looked more than a little shocked at the sight of the two Gryffindors standing next to their unconscious classmate. It was about that time that Ron chose to start waking up with a low groan.

"What're you three doin' here? It's too early to be out innit'?" Hagrid asked, shuffling forward slightly, meaning to help Ron up but stopping as none of the other two made a move to acknowledge the boy. "We were…trying to teach Ron a lesson; he said some really hurtful things to Harry." Hermione tried explaining with a sigh, glancing quickly behind her to the outer walls of the school. The game keeper looked even more confused. "Well why'd you do that?" he asked, to which Hermione answered again. "It's a long story, but it turns out Draco Malfoy is a 'dragon' Veela and chose Harry as his mate…Ron thinks Harry has been conspiring with Malfoy against him because he can't accept that the two get along now." The girl mumbled just as Ron started shuffling to get up.

"Well why'd you think that?" Hagrid asked again, thoroughly confused now. "I'm not too sure with Malfoy bein' the one but Merlin knows Harry's been needin' something good to come along lately; everyone knows Dragon Veela are especially loyal so this is a good thing then; right?" Seamus nodded slowly. "Yeah, now explain that to Ron please, we all failed..." he reminded.

* * *

"You lie." Harry stated, covering his head with a large pillow to avoid the Veela's bemused glare. "Potter, come on, get _up_, we have to go to class _sometime_…" Malfoy stressed, hoping to get through to the sleepy teen. "Not now, didn't I just go to sleep two minutes ago? I should at least have two more hours…" came the raven hared boy's muffled reply. To drive his point home he even stuck out his head from behind the pillow a little, giving Draco a pleading look. He knew it was kind of stupid to be playing his good card so early in the morning but he felt so sleep deprived he'd have to be carried to class. Draco tried vehemently to look away. "No. Look. We can't keep skipping class, and you slept longer than you think…please just get ready? If you don't then I can't exactly go to class without you anymore and I need my potion's grade.." the blonde asked, avoiding Harry's pleading gaze as he knew it would most likely make him give up.

"Fine." Came Harry's reply after a few seconds of silence as he pushed himself up and out of the bed. "But I'll be cranky..." he warned with a small yawn, heading lazily for the bathroom. Draco sighed slightly as he sat up on the bed. He'd gotten ready a few hours ago and had then caught up on his homework while waiting for Harry to wake up. He had also had some time to get used to his new, more heightened senses that he'd gotten as they formed the first bond. He could hear Harry's slow steps as he halfway dragged his feet across the floor, he could hear the door of the bathroom open and close, the gears of the lock clicking into place, even smell the scent of Harry's favorite shampoo. He had more control over what he was doing and he wasn't risking going blind by watching a sunrise anymore. In short, when the boy was around everything was just so much easier and he was actually able to relax.

Draco had to admit; he did feel bad a little bit, just a little, not a lot, for waking Harry up and forcing him to class when he obviously needed more rest so he supposed he could at least make it up to him by getting him some breakfast. It was a little known fact that Draco Malfoy actually enjoyed cooking He had of course always had house elves to do things like this for him but he found food tended to taste better if he just made it himself and on top of that it gave him something to do when he needed to take a break from life. With that thought in mind he headed to the large kitchen that was set up next to their rooms and pulled out a few ingredients, starting to make some scrambled eggs, making a mental note that he actually liked their private quarters. Much more private and quiet than the common rooms; and he was definitely glad to be rid of Parkinson and her ultrasonic screeches.

Just as he was enjoying the quiet of the rooms a large thud rung out, followed by a very quiet but nonetheless upset 'oww'. Draco sighed loudly, quickly piling up Harry's breakfast on a plate and setting that down at the dining table, heading back to the bedroom to see what his new mate had done to himself now. 'New mate'. That sounded so strange yet also comforting. The blonde didn't have to far however, as just next to the entrance to the living room stood Harry, one hand on his forehead as he stared at the wall, perplexed. Draco looked from his mate, to the wall, then back to his mate, trying to stifle an amused expression. "Did you just run into this wall? Harry, the door is two feet to the right, and it was open..." he said slowly, raising a thin eyebrow. "Well, I know that there's a wall there _now _but…was that wall there yesterday?" Harry mumbled, rubbing the spot on his head that he'd hit when he collided with what he thought was a wall that just appeared out of thin air.

The Veela sighed slightly, picking up the towel that the boy had dropped and throwing that around his shoulders, running his fingers through Harry's wet hair to dry it with a quick spell, wandless now, of course. "Come on, this way." Draco chided softly, putting one arm around the boy to guide him to the dining table, steering him in a wide arch around anything remotely pointy or hard. "Eat your breakfast and then we'll head to class, no walls involved, I promise." Draco added as he sat Harry down at the table. "What do you want to drink? I'm making Tea for myself, is that alright?" the Vela asked, turning to look at the Gryffindor that hadn't yet made any movement. "I'm…Tea is fine…you made me breakfast?"" Harry asked quietly, taking a bite and noting that it was quite good. Draco nodded. "For waking you up early. How do you feel? You were pretty upset yesterday…" the blonde tried, unsure of whether or not to bring up the subject.

"I'm too tired to be mad right now…I'm in denial a little bit. This is very good by the way, I didn't know that you could cook…This cooking skill and you don't have a favorite food?" He asked, surprised, remembering the small 'question game' they had played a while ago. "Thank you. And I like a lot of different foods, although I do have a craving for steak right now..." he added with a small shrug. Ever since activating some of his abilities he'd had a craving for that.

'_That is normal young master. Dragon Veela are usually very partial to meats like that…and strawberries....'_ the small dragon creature added, appearing from underneath a few blankets that were forgotten on the couch. "Where did you come from?" Harry asked, surprised to see the small dragon. "And how come you're never around when I actually need to ask you anything?" he continued with a small pout. The creature chose not to answer and instead settled for perching up on Harry's shoulder. "Do you even have a name?" Harry asked, reaching over to pet the creature softly. '_No. No one ever felt the need to name me before. Young master…you have a strange taste in mates..."_ the dragon mumbled, causing Draco to growl menacingly at the thing. "Wait…was that you being…protective?" Harry asked, shocked.

"No." Draco lied, handing Harry the cup of tea. "And please don't name it something ridiculously weird." The blonde asked. "Liar…I'll name him…Kiwi." Harry decided then with a small nod, accepting the mug of tea gratefully from the Veela. "Dare I ask about the logic behind that one?" Draco drawled, taking a seat and sipping his tea. "I like kiwi." Harry answered with a shrug. " And it's a hairy fruit so it's cute, and he's cute, so…kiwi" the Gryffindor concluded."

"Sure." Draco mumbled. When Harry had finished his tea Draco placed his palm on the boy's cheek, drawing him into a soft kiss. Harry was surprised but participated gladly until they pulled away from each other. "What was that for?" Harry asked. "You were being cute…It passed…Keep working on it." Malfoy drawled. Harry huffed at that. "You are mean." He exclaimed, throwing his towel at the giggling blonde. "Alright alright, let's get to class…"

As the three were heading out of the door, Hermione and Seamus stopped them in front of the portrait guarding the entrance to their rooms. "Mione, Seamus, did something happen?" Harry asked, handing Kiwi to Draco. "Well, Ron's fine now, surprisingly, he doesn't even remember yelling at you..."Seamus started. "But before we got to him he had another little breakdown and kind of…" Hermione continued. "…told the whole school about you two." Seamus finished, watching the Slytherin's look turn into a deadly glare.

* * *

AN: Shorter chapter as I have to head to work half an hour ago. Sorry for the long delay but school had gotten pretty stressful and all. *whines*


	13. Good tea, bad news

AN: NO! I'm not dead…how weird is that? I'm just extremely busy…not a good excuse I know but hey! At least I still update every once in a blue moon right?

Warnings Disclaimers and Ratings are as usual…see chapter one for a refresher.

* * *

"Well…We already had breakfast so I guess at least we'll get to deal with them in pieces." Draco mumbled with a sigh, bringing a hand up to his temple. The truth was that it didn't really bother him that people knew since he'd had time to adjust to the fact that he cared about Harry. What he was worried about was that now because of the Gryffindor idiot Harry would be bombarded by questions from people. The blonde wasn't quite sure that he would be alright, especially since he'd had such a rough night before. "Do you have any plans Granger?" he asked then, hoping the all-knowing girl had some sort of suggestion.

"None. Unfortunately." Hermione replied with a small sigh. "Are you going to be okay? Because…I have some more bad news." She added then, looking to Harry with an almost motherly amount of concern. She pulled a piece of folded parchment from her pocket, watching for her friend's reaction. Harry just shrugged slowly. He mumbled: "I'm…not okay, but I think I can deal with this stuff for now…more bad news how? You found my sweater and it's destroyed or I'll fail some class?" Hermione looked increasingly uncomfortable as she handed him the parchment. Harry raised an eyebrow but accepted it, unfolding it and holding it out so that Draco could read it over his shoulder as well. It was an excerpt from some sort of wizard journal. A lot of big words, something about magical transfer mediums. Harry barely understood a word of it. Draco, however, was slowly tightening his hold on Harry as he read on. "Please explain…" Harry mumbled, looking back up to the Gryffindor girl.

"Well…I was thinking about how you got attacked. I was talking to professor Slughorn who told me they were under the Imperius curse. The strange thing about it is that they had been in detention the whole morning, then in potions class and then the infirmary. There was no one around to curse them. That's why I went to the library to research it a bit more, and I found that." She started explaining, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. She tended to forget to breathe when she was speaking about something important. "This is not good." Draco mumbled as he finished reading, looking up at the girl with an uneasy glance.

Harry was still more confused than awake, but he decided to wait for Hermione to finish explaining before he complained that she couldn't explain anything. "Basically..." she continued, seeing Harry's confused expression. "The article talks about a way to perform magic from a distance. There's a special magical connection that you can make with someone, and as long as you're powerful enough, you can use them as a magical medium to relay your magic to someone around them. It works similarly to a telephone. If someone, and I'm guessing Voldemord, wants to curse you but not come all the way here, he can use someone inside Hogwarts to do it. The worst part is that that person might not even know that their magic is being used, but if you're around them, he can see you and curse you. So…he's watching you, and we don't even know through whom. And when he wants to, he can use that person's magic to transfer a curse to you."

"So…I can't trust anyone?" Harry whimpered quietly, shocked stiff. Hermione sighed at that. "Only Draco and yourself. He needs a different person to target you, he can't curse you directly and Draco's magic works differently what a wizard's so this type of connection doesn't work. So…stick together for now." She suggested. Harry nodded. "We have to anyway, since the bond is new…but thank you for the warning. Please tell me that this is the extent of the news you have for me today, I don't think I can handle anything else today." The raven haired boy mumbled quietly.

"Wait…you guys kissed?" the girl beamed, moving to hug Harry closely with a grin, momentarily forgetting their grim conversation. "Way to go." She whispered into his ear, causing him to blush slightly, but only slightly. "Come on, we have to get to class…don't worry too much for now, as long as you're with Draco you'll be safe…and I don't think he's planning on abandoning you anywhere anytime soon. Right?". Draco huffed slightly, annoyed that the question even had to be asked. "Of course not." He mumbled quietly. There was no way he was leaving Harry alone, especially now.

Somehow, they all managed to find their way to potion's class where a wave of people practically crashed into them, crying out anything from 'you're so disgusting' to 'when can we go shopping together'. Somehow, Draco was expertly fending off the comments while Harry just sat next to him, dazed. He was infinitely grateful when the class finally started and professor Snape quieted everyone down in a matter of seconds. The rest of the day seemed to be just their morning on repeat. Go into hallway. Get ambushed. Let Draco do the talking and cower away from screaming girls. Start class in relief. End class. Repeat. He didn't even get a moment of spare time to talk to Ron, and he was secretly a little relieved because of that. He just wasn't ready to have another giant yelling session with him just yet.

When they were finally done with classes for the day, it was just himself and Draco walking outside. Harry was instinctively heading for Hagrid's and Draco was following without complaint, seeing as the boy looked ready to murder. "Are you alright?" the blonde asked then, his voice quieter and concerned as he spoke to his newfound mate. "Yeah, just…sleep deprived and sick of screaming people. I just want to say hi to Hagrid, that's okay right?" the Gryffindor replied, finally able to look at Draco today without having fifteen girls blocking his vision. "Of course." The Slytherin replied softly. "After today…you deserve a break." Harry gave him a small smile, grateful that Draco was being so understanding. It was strange to think how differently he saw him now.

As they arrived at Hagrid's hut Harry got up to push the door open, not needing to knock as by now, he was one of his main visitors here. "Harry!" Hagrid beamed as he saw him enter. "I'll make some tea, sit down, fang and I missed you!" he called out, ushering both Harry and Draco inside. Having heard from Hermione and Seamus already that Harry was Draco's mate, he was quite interested in talking to them. After all…a Dragon Veela was another magical creature. Harry looked to Draco quickly before sitting down. The blonde seemed surprisingly content with having to spend time in the hut with Hagrid, which made Harry feel a lot better. They spent their time making small talk, Hagrid leading the conversation, Harry replying occasionally and Draco sipping tea quietly.

"And as I was sayin' before, Professor Dumbledore gave me permission to keep a dragon in the forbidden forest, being careful and secret of course…and I was thinkin' of getting one, but I miss Norbert." Hagrid was saying, petting fang as he spoke. "Norbert?" Draco mumbled then, his curiosity having been attracted by the talk of dragons. "Yeah, he was this baby dragon that Hagrid got when he was still an egg. He got taken away." Harry explained with a small shrug. "Yeah." Hagrid added. "I had to give him up cause I couldn't keep him then, I don't even know where he is now…I'm sure he misses me too...".

* * *

When Draco and Harry finally got back to their rooms, Harry was ready to collapse. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and he was exhausted. Draco felt that and went straight for the kitchen, starting to prepare some food for him. "Today…really sucked." Harry mumbled, his voice muffled as he was speaking into a pillow, having crashed straight into a couch when they got back. "I know. It's Saturday tomorrow though, you'll get to sleep in." Draco reminded as he was cutting up some potatoes. A few minutes later, Draco came to sit beside the boy on the couch, seeing as he hadn't moved an inch. "You're still worried about what Granger said aren't you?"

"I just…I wish I had a day off…from all of this." Harry admitted finally, sitting up to look at his mate. "Everyone wants to kill me and they're finding new ways to do it every few days, school had just gotten intolerable with everyone asking me to go shopping or date them, the Dursleys are…I just want a day off, I'm going crazy." He added, catching himself before he started to talk about the Dursleys and their treatment. He whined quietly, letting his head drop onto Draco's shoulder.

"Hey." The blonde replied then, moving a hand to Harry's cheek and bringing his gaze up to his own. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I know you're worried, but you can trust me on this. Really. I'm not letting anyone touch my mate. Promise. I'll keep you safe." He mumbled, his lips finding Harry's for a slow but wonderful kiss. "Now, come on, I made you something to eat, I know you're starving." The Slytherin added, causing Harry to smile softly as he got up. He was so happy that Draco was being understanding and civil with his friends and just so…wonderful.

"Draco…" Harry started, but paused then, the words hitching in his throat. "Eat." The blonde said, placing another kiss on his cheek as he sat him down at the table in front of his plate. "Do you want to sleep in my room again tonight?"

Harry nodded slowly as he ate. "Do you mind?" Draco sighed slightly. "O course not. It'll be easier for me too, with the bond being so new. About your day…tomorrow is Saturday. You can sleep as long as you like and when you wake up we can go to Hogsmade for brunch. We'll steer clear of anyone we know and I'll keep you safe and we'll do absolutely nothing important all day. It can be your day off." Draco suggested then, looking to the raven haired boy.

Harry's mood brightened considerable at the idea of doing nothing for a day except spend time with Draco. "That…sounds awesome." He replied with a grin, causing Draco so smile slightly in relief as well. "Done?" the blonde asked then, seeing as Harry had practically cleaned off the plate while they were speaking." "Yep." Harry answered. "I'll go get ready for bed…I'm exhausted." He added, getting up and heading for the bathroom, but not before flashing Draco another happy smile. When he finished and headed back to Draco's bedroom, he could see the blonde had already gotten ready and was lying on the bed reading a potion's book.

"I almost forgot that you can see in the dark now…must be cool." Harry mumbled with a yawn as he crawled in next to Draco, laying his head on the other's chest, one of the most comfortable way's to sleep now. "Just get some rest." Draco mumbled, draping an arm around the boy as he kissed his hair. He still had trouble showing affection, all Malfoys did, but when they were alone, things were just a little bit easier.

As Harry was falling asleep, he heard a strange voice that was quietly whispering something, but as soon as he had noticed it, it had already disappeared. Seeing as Draco hadn't stirred under him, he figured he was just going crazy. For some reason, that voice had reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite figure out what until it finally hit him and his eyes flew open as he shuddered. The voice…was almost the same as the one he had been hearing in his second year here, the voice of the Basilisk.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Draco was asking now, looking to him with concern.

"Can...Can that medium thing…be an animal?" he asked fearfully.


	14. The best surprise

AN: Slightly quicker update to make up for the insanely long delay…

Warnings Disclaimers and such: See chapter one

* * *

'_You are closssse. Ssssoon we will ssssee how sssstrong thissss creature really issss. Ssssoon.'_

'_Yessss masssster. Ssssoon.'_

* * *

"What? You're still worrying about that?" Draco mumbled, setting the potions book down and turning to better look at Harry who was now clinging to him. "I just…thought of something…so, can the medium be an animal?" Harry asked again, trying to listen for any other traces of that voice he'd heard. Draco paused for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think so. Animals don't have a strong enough magical signature to support the medium link from what I read in that passage Granger brought. It could technically work with a magical creature, but only a strong one, and even so you'd have to be connected to that creature magically already before being able to even try it since their signature would be totally different from a wizard's. I think you might be able to use me as a medium since we're already connected as mates but other than that…I can't think of anything that might work.

"Oh." Harry mumbled, slightly relieved. "You didn't hear anything before I asked, right?" he added, still weary of the thought of being watched. "Like what?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow, now curious. "What scared you?". Harry lifted his head to glare quickly at the blonde. "I am not scared. Just…confused." The Gryffindor lied. When Draco matched his glare with an equally annoyed one he signed and moved to lie on his back, turning to glance at his mate.

"Okay. Okay. Remember second year, with the whole 'Chamber of Secrets' chaos? Well...we knew it was a Basilisk going in. We figured it out because I, as a newfound parseltongue, could hear his voice through the walls when no one else heard anything. Hermione figured it out from there." Harry started, pausing as Draco interrupted quickly. "But you killed that thing, didn't you? And the chamber was sealed off…" the Slytherin added, his tone more serious now.

"I killed it…but the chamber wasn't sealed off…just closed. It was empty and only Hermione, Ron and I knew how to open it, and from us three I was the only one who could actually do it. I…heard that voice again just now. Not the Basilisk, but similar, and it sounded just like it did back then, which made me think it might be moving the same way." Harry continued, pausing to sigh again. "It's nothing…I mean, I was probably just hallucinating. I haven't slept right in months…" he added, though his eyes betrayed his concern that the voice had been real.

Draco studied Harry's expression for a few moments before speaking again, moving to run his fingers through the other's hair in an attempt to soothe the boy. "It's possible. As you said, the chamber was never really sealed off…and the Basilisk wasn't the only snake available...but…you'd still have to be connected magically to it before being able to use it as a medium since it's not a wizard. Are you sure it was a snake and not someone speaking parseltongue?"

"Yeah. They feel different even though the language is the same…definitely snake." Harry replied with a convinced nod. "Well…then you don't have much to worry about. Besides, we are close to the surface here, it could have been just a snake from outside…you're exhausted so it could have sounded bigger than it was. Just get some rest. It's no use getting worked up when you can't think clearly." Draco tried to reason with him. "You're right." Harry gave in, moving to drop his head onto the other's shoulder again, closing his eyes with a sigh. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Draco mumbled as he reached for his potions book again. "Harry?" The Gryffindor shifted lazily. "Hmm?" came his well worded reply. "If you hear it again…let me know."

* * *

The Gryffindor common room was quiet and dark except for three figures sitting around the fireplace. Ronald Weasley looked to the floor as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Hermione and Seamus had been arguing for a while now, but the conversation had died to just a few whispers every now and then.

"Ron. Please tell me you were under the Imperio curse when you yelled at Harry…" Hermione started with a sigh again, watching with disappointment as Ron shook his head slowly. "Naw. I mean, there was this weird voice in the back of my head telling me to be mad at him and getting me all worked up…but what I said…was all me…I can't believe I did that…and to me best friend." the Gryffindor boy was mumbling, looking up for some sort of compassion but receiving only disappointed stares. "Do…you think he'll ever forgive me?"

"You know him. You know he will…but you're going to have to work your ass off at apologizing and especially at being civil to Malfoy now. I'm not saying I exactly like the guy, but he treats me politely so I can do the same. And…Harry trusted him enough to accept him as his mate so…the guy must have done something right." Seamus chimed in, trying to help ease the awkward silence that had fallen over the three.

Ron looked horrified for a second. "But…it's _Malfoy_…who says he won't turn out like his dad and try to kill Harry?"

"Harry does!" Hermione interrupted, frustrated into raising her voice. "He trusts him. And until now, Malfoy hasn't done anything to indicate otherwise, he's been great with Harry! I know you're worried about your friend…but you know as well as I do that Harry wouldn't commit to anyone if he wasn't absolutely sure…and he did…so have a little faith. Think about it. If you had a choice would you want Harry to be killed or be happy? Why not try your hardest to make the good situation come true for him?"

* * *

Harry was almost awake now, still a little groggy as he pulled closer to something very soft and comfortable that he had draped around him like a cover. Feathers. Draco. With everything going on lately, this was the only place he felt really safe. When he finally felt awake enough to open his eyes, he was greeted with gold reflections of the sunlight on his mate's hair, neatly kept and meticulously clean as always. That was one thing Harry found cute about him…he was so obsessive-compulsively clean. "Hi." He mumbled in a sleepy voice, stifling a small yawn as he brought a hand up to pet the blonde hair.

"Good mood today?" Draco mumbled as he raised an eyebrow, watching the other slowly wake. He smiled as he planted a small kiss on his cheek. "It's getting easier to fell…strange right?" the Slytherin mumbled, more to himself as he sat up. "So…how are we going to kill time on your day off?" he asked.

At that, Harry instantly perked up, sitting up with almost lightning speed. "Day off?" he repeated, a wide grin spreading on his face. "Well...do nothing. I mean, have nothing planned…no stupid be there by this time schedule…just…do whatever, y'know?" he mumbled, trying to explain. "Okay. 'Whatever' it is." Draco answered with a small chuckle. With that, Harry stood lazily, moving to the bathroom to take a shower. He actually spent some time making sure everything about his appearance was as good as he could get it to be. After all, he wanted to look alright since he'd be spending the day out in public with Draco. He took his time picking out a dark green button down shirt and grey pants, stopping only for a moment to wonder how in the world he'd gotten so fond of Slytherin colors. He added one of Draco's scarves, spent some time arranging his hear to look somewhat presentable and decided he was ready. As he was about to walk out of the bathroom he caught a glimpse of his glasses still lying on the edge of the sink. He stared at them for a moment until it hit him that he'd forgotten to put them on that morning. He could actually see…without his glasses.

In a split second, Harry burst out of the bathroom, finding the Slytherin on the couch, already dressed and looking great as usual. "I can see." Harry breathed out, completely shocked. The blonde raised an eyebrow, holding back a slight purr at Harry's very sexy outfit. "Was there a time when you didn't?" he asked, somewhat confused. "My glasses….I can see without my glasses…" came the boy's mumble.

"Oh. That. Well…the bond kind of saw that as physical injury and healed it…sorry." The blonde replied, looking to Harry to try to anticipate any sort of bad reaction. "This is…the best day every." The Gryffindor finally spoke out, practically jumping to hug Draco with a happy laugh. "I can't believe I never have to wear those stupid things again. This is awesome. Thank you."

"Well…I didn't really do much, but I'm glad you're happy with the change..." Draco added with a small chuckle. He leaned in to whisper 'you look great' into Harry's ear quickly before kissing him deeply. As they broke off from the kiss, Draco looked to him. "Is it okay, that I do that?" he asked Harry, arms still slung possessively around his mate. "Yep." Harry replied with a grin.

"If you're open for suggestions, I have an idea about what we can do after brunch…" the Slytherin mumbled, a smirk starting to form on his lips.

* * *

"Where…on earth are we?" Harry asked, clinging closer to Draco as they started nearing ground again. Draco hadn't told him anything, just snatched him up and started flying, and judging by the speed and agility Draco had gained, Harry wasn't even sure if they were in the same country anymore. "Please don't drop me." He was mumbling, causing the blonde to roll his eyes. "I would never."

As Draco landed smoothly and safely to Harry's great relief, he could only tell they were in some sort of clearing in a strange forest and it was too quiet to be normal. No birds, crickets, belching leeches….nothing. "It should be around here, they're very close." Draco was mumbling. "Uhm…what…exactly is close?" the Gryffindor dared to ask. Just then, Draco let out a low reptile-like hiss, like calling out to something. Harry waited patiently, almost jumping as the strange hisses were returned from the trees around them. "What on earth is that?" Harry breathed out. "Snakes have parseltoungue…we dragons have this." The blonde shrugged.

Harry didn't even have a chance to get used to the news when dragons of all kinds and sizes started appearing from their hiding in the trees, causing him to cling to his mate as they were being slowly surrounded. One dragon in particular started inching closer to them, and he seemed oddly familiar, with orange-yellow scaled and a particularly pointed tail. "This looks just like-" Harry started.

"Norbert?" Draco nodded. "I can talk to them, find them…it's useful…and apparently Norbert's been missing your friend too. He wants to come back with us."

* * *

Hermione had decided that to cool everyone down, especially Ron, a visit to Hagrid was in order. Just some tea outside and Hagrid talking some sense into Ron about Draco. As they were sitting next to Hagrid's pumpkin patch, Seamus caught a glimpse of Harry flying in on Draco's back and nearly choked on his tea. "You're not supposed to try to kill him…I didn't even know you could fly!" Seamus exclaimed, causing Harry to chuckle softly as Draco set him down. "Naw. He didn't drop me once…he's safe. Really." The Gryffindor added, choosing to ignore Ron for the time being.

"Hagrid!" he shouted then, going over to hug his large friend, causing him to sputter slightly. "We have a huge surprise." Harry continued, causing Hagrid to hug him back curiously. "You will never guess who Draco found today."

"Well…what 're you two up to? What…oh…" Hagrid started, stopping dead in his tracks as he immediately recognized his Norbert flying in to greet him. The giant ran to him with a happy shout and the scene was comparable to a little boy being reunited with his dog except in this case, both were overly big. Hagrid was so happy that the reunion actually brought tears to his eyes, leaving Seamus, Hermione and especially Ron completely stunned.

Seeing this reunion, Harry was practically bursting with happiness, holding Draco close and mumbling his thank-you's. "Wow." Ron mumbled, seeing his best friend so unbelievably happy. "Malfoy…really makes him feel that great?" he asked, moving to step towards them to possibly say something.

"Yeah." Seamus nodded, holding Ron back when he started to move. "Just…let them be for now okay?" he advised, getting an approving nod from Hermione.

* * *

It was almost midnight and Harry and Draco were sitting by the lake, just watching the water move with the slight breeze. "I can't believe you did that…you don't even like Hagrid…" Harry was mumbling, his head leaning comfortably back onto Draco's shoulder, his mate's arms closely around him. "I don't know…it was just a spontaneous idea…I just wanted to make you smile." Draco admitted, kissing his mate's hair. It was nice to have the lake all to themselves like this.

"You…did way more than that. That meant a lot to me. Really." Harry mumbled, moving to kiss him softly. "Out of everyone in the world…I wouldn't pick anyone else to be with right now." At that comment, Draco's heart gave a happy flutter; his Veela side screaming with excitement at hearing his mate say that. Today was entirely worth it.


	15. This time it's happening

AN: Again and again I mention that this story will be retouched and reposted after all the chapters are up but no one ever reads these things do they? If you do…I congratulate you…you may go brag about yourself as being an awesome reader in the comments section.

Warnings and Disclaimers: See first few chapters

* * *

Harry leaned his head back against Draco, both of them watching the lake as they sat silently. They had been there for a few hours, just talking about anything. Families, hobbies, food…whatever came to mind. Harry felt so relaxed in the other's arms to the point where he couldn't even remember why he had ever thought about rejecting Draco.

"I have one more thing to show you for tonight." The Slytherin mumbled into Harry's ear, leaning forward and cupping his hands in front of his face, blowing out a long, bright flame that moved much like it was alive, the boy's silver eyes swirling with magic. The Slytherin grinned as he flicked his wrist, causing the flame to grow and spread out over the entire surface of the water, lighting up their previously dark surroundings. "I just learned I could do that." Draco mumbled, watching the fire with fascination.

"Woah…that's cool." Harry was mumbling, realizing that, curiously enough, the fire looked menacing but felt pretty comfortable even at such proximity. "Why are we not…burnt to a crisp yet?" the Gryffindor boy asked, raising an eyebrow. Draco let out a small laugh. "Well...I for one am immune to my own attacks and you are bonded to me as my mate, therefore my magic cannot hurt you."

"So…you mean to say…as long as it comes from you I'm fire-proof?" Harry asked with a wide grin, enjoying the thoughts of all of the uses of this new information. "Yes. And don't get any stupid ideas. The Gryffindor Golden Boy is worshiped enough; we don't need to light him on fire, thank you." Draco drawled, causing Harry to burst out laughing. "Let's go back…I'll get Dobby to get us some food and then we can just sleep." The raven haired boy suggested, moving to kiss his mate softly, a smile playing on his lips.

As they both headed back Draco let out a small yawn, causing Harry to raise a thin eyebrow. "I thought you didn't sleep?" Harry asked, studying the blonde with slight amusement. "Only about once per week, but when we do, we're pretty sleepy…" Draco explained with a small shrug, mumbling their password and pushing the door behind the portrait open as they stepped back into their rooms. "I want strawberries..." the Slytherin declared with another small yawn as he fell back onto the couch, grabbling Harry's sleeve to pull him down as well.

"Dobby?" Harry called out with a small sigh. He had already taken the time to explain to Draco that this house elf counted more as his friend and had previously let Dobby know of his new mate, so, when the house elf did appear with a loud pop he just bowed low, offering his usual praise to his master Harry Potter. "Could you get us something to eat please? Some strawberries dipped in chocolate, chicken sandwiches…and…lemonade." Harry concluded. He watched his friend disappear with a smile, jumping slightly when Dobby returned only seconds later with what he had asked for. He had him set it on the kitchen table, going over to grab a sandwich. When he looked back he could see Draco eyeing the Strawberries wantonly, a sleepy but determined gaze. Harry sighed, picked up the plate and brought it to the blonde, stifling a laugh as he watched the other devour them hungrily.

* * *

Ron sighed again, sitting in the large red chair beside the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. "I don't know…I've never seen him that happy. He always had that look when he came back from the summer." He mumbled, his arms drawn around his knees. Seamus raised an eyebrow at his comment. "Wow. You noticed…usually subtle stuff isn't your thing." He teased slightly. He was lying on the small couch, legs swinging in the air above him. Another voice arose from right in front of the fireplace. It was Hermione Granger, who was still glaring slightly at her red haired friend. "Yes Ron. He's happy with Draco. That's what we've been trying to get you to understand. I'm glad you came to your senses…though I still hate that you had to say those things to your best friend first." She grumbled.

Ron nodded silently, remembering the night in the hospital wing. He'd decided he wanted to at least hear Harry out, and then when he saw him, there had been this voice in his head constantly whispering to him, egging him on, telling him to be furious with Harry. And like the idiot that he was, he'd listened.

"I want to tell him I'm sorry…but I don't even know how to…" Ron was mumbling to himself. Normally, Hermione would have whacked him upside the head by now, but the boy did seem genuinely upset. "Let's just get some sleep Ron. Maybe you can talk to Harry at lunch tomorrow." She suggested, stifling a yawn as she headed up the narrow staircase, heading to her gold and red bed.

"Yeah. Sleep sounds good. I'm going to go too. Don't stay up all night; you have potions to sit through tomorrow morning." Seamus reminded the boy as he too headed to a good night's sleep, leaving Ron alone to his thoughts.

* * *

After they had both eaten, Harry and Draco had gone straight to bed. Since Harry always slept in Draco's room for the comforting proximity and lack of nightmares, his own room had been changed to a study. Harry didn't exactly study much, but Draco used it regularly for homework and potions experiments. Night found Draco curled up in a ball around Harry, breathing softly as he slept, his red wings covering them both. Harry had a little more trouble falling asleep, but he didn't want to wake the Veela from his weekly full night of rest, so he just listened to his mate's breathing, letting that lull him into sleep.

Morning came all too quickly for Harry and he was woken by Draco shuffling around the bedroom to get dressed and ready. He groaned softly, pulling a pillow over his head to block out the light so he could attempt to fall back asleep. That didn't last long, however, as the pillow was expertly pulled away from him and used to whack him slightly, jolting him awake and causing him to let out a low whine. And so started Draco and Harry's routine morning. They hadn't even lived together long and they acted like a married couple. Harry would refuse to get up, to which Draco would respond by picking him up and setting him in the bathroom, locking the door shut until the shower was heard. Harry would then reluctantly get ready and complain to Draco the entire way through, which Draco would stop by forcing a large bite of their breakfast into Harry's mouth. Somehow, by the end of it all, they did manage to make it out the door early most days, no thanks to the groggy Gryffindor.

Today however, their routine was rudely interrupted. As Harry was rinsing out his mouth, the snake-like voice made itself heard again. 'Sssoon you will sssee' it started quietly, menacingly. Harry was startled by its sudden appearance and jumped slightly, looking frantically around the bathroom to try to determine where the sound came from. "What are you?" He stammered to the air in front of him, voice weak. 'Your friendsss will sssoon be nexxxt. Sssoon. For my massster.' The voice was saying, getting louder and louder. Suddenly, the floor seemed to give way under him and he was sinking in some sort of mud. He yelped as he struggled to get free, but it only pulled him down faster, seeming to crawl up his body. Harry could see shapes rising from the mud, clawing at him, trying to drown him. Hermione. Ron. Seamus. Neville….Draco…

Harry's scream reverberated through the dungeons as the boy writhed on the tiled floor of the bathroom, eyes wide open but completely blank. "Harry. HARRY." Draco was yelling at him, trying to shake him awake from whatever had him hallucinating. At Draco's voice the Gryffindor snapped out of it, panting lightly as relief washed over him at seeing his mate crouched over him, staring at him worriedly. Without being able to choke out a word Harry fisted his hands in his mate's shirt, whimpering as he pulled himself close. "Shh. You're safe. You're safe now." Draco was telling him soothingly, rubbing his back in slow circles. "What happened Harry?" he asked, concerned.

Harry sighed, slightly calmer now. "I heard it again. The voice. It was telling me my friends were next. And then I saw…they…all of you…were trying to kill me…I couldn't get away." He choked out, shuddering as he spoke. "I'm scared. I don't know what to do…if that thing is going after my friends…which ones? I can't watch them all, all the time. And that thing knows that, and can watch me. What if I can't save them?" he was starting. Draco frowned deeply, placing a soft kiss on his lips, then another on his jaw. "You can warn them. You have to trust them to be able to defend themselves. We'll have to warn your closest friends, discreetly." The blonde started, watching as his mate shook his head. "We have to go to Dumbledore. I didn't want to before, since only I can hear it so far…but it's starting to threaten more people than just me. Still…I have a feeling…the minute I tell him that I can hear it…it'll try to kill someone." He whispered darkly.

"Then don't tell him. Yet. I know you're afraid for your friends, but we have no way of knowing that this voice is what started the attack. It could just be someone out to get you with a very expensive set of potions. They could be making this up, to seem like they are controlling everything even though they are just waiting for another attack to take credit for. We don't know anything for certain yet. All we can do is warn your friends. And you do not run off alone anymore. " the blonde finished sternly, content when his mate nodded slowly. "Okay." came his meek reply. "I guess we have to go to potions. I wish I wasn't the only one hearing it. It feels like I'm going mad." He was mumbling as he stood shakily to finish getting ready, the concerned and overprotective Veela close by him helping him.

When they were both ready, Draco picked up both of their books and led Harry to the potions room, not caring anymore that his arm was around his mate's waist. The whole school knew by now anyway, courtesy of Ron Weasley. The Veela kept glancing at his mate as they walked, worrying. Harry looked so shaken, completely out of it. He wished he could hear this voice, if for nothing more than to share the worry that seemed to be wearing his beautiful mate to the bone. As they walked they walked they were greeted by stares, praise, insults, everything imaginable. Still, most kept their comments to themselves when they noticed the dragon veela's expression. When they arrived Harry took his seat next to Draco, staring off into space as he thought about that voice's warning. He barely noticed Ron approaching him until his friend stood right in front of him. "Ron…" Harry started quietly, not really knowing what to say after that. "Hey mate…if I can still call you that. Can we talk at dinner today?" Ron Weasley mumbled, glancing nervously from his friend to the glaring veela and back. He breathed a sigh of relief when Harry nodded slowly and returned to sit next to Hermione just in time for the lecture to start. Harry wasn't much help with the potions this class and kept apologizing to Draco every once in a while for it.

"It's fine. I can handle this; you can sit this one out." Draco kept telling him patiently, calmly fixing whatever problems Harry happened to cause with the potion. The rest of the lectures that day didn't go too well either. Harry would just stare in front of him and fidget with his quill while Draco's palm rested on his knee under the table, trying to soothe him as best as he could. At the end of classes he sent Hermione and Weasely a note to meet them back at their rooms, figuring Harry could use a quiet moment away from the rest of their classmates.

* * *

"So, y'know. That's why I'm really sorry mate." Ron spoke up from one of the sofas. "I know. But it still hurt. You know I'll forgive you, but just…not now. Give me some time okay?" Harry sighed, sipping at the tea Draco had made him. He figured his mate must have slipped some potion into the tea because it had a very soothing effect. "I know." Ron answered, then fell quiet again and didn't speak up again."

"Harry." Hermione started then, drawing his attention back to his surroundings and away from the tea. "You were saying you heard a voice?" she prompted, watching Draco sit down next to his mate out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah." Harry answered. "It's in Parceltoungue. It sounds like an actual snake though, not just someone speaking it, I can tell the difference. It's freaking me out." The Gryffindor admitted, setting the mug of tea down and drawing close to Draco with a small shudder. "Do you think this could be that medium you were reading about?" Draco suggested, rubbing his mate's shoulder soothingly. Hermione paused in thought, uncertain. "It…doesn't make sense for it to be an animal. It wouldn't be powerful enough magically." she mumbled, dismissing the idea and sipping at her own tea. The large fireplace in the room cast flickering shadows onto their worried expressions. It took a moment before Harry spoke up again, his voice calmer from having his mate close. "What about the Basilisk? I know I killed it, we're sure it's dead of course, but. Let's pretend it was alive…could it be the medium then?" the Gryffindor boy asked, stunning both his mate and friend with the question, Ron completely absent from the conversation in the room. "Well…yes. It could be. It was a very powerful creature, even more so when Tom Riddle was controlling it through the diary." Hermione answered with a slow nod. "But the Basilisk is dead and that diary was destroyed with its venom, so this brings us nowhere." She concluded, sighing again.

Harry, however, didn't look so convinced and Draco noticed it immediately. "What are you thinking? Tell us…it can't hurt. We have nothing so far." Draco prompted gently, waiting patiently for his mate to arrange his thoughts before he responded. "Well…Hermione. Remember the year of the triwizard tournament? At least I think it was that year, I've had so many visions…But in this one, I told you I saw…Voldemord, and Wormtail was there too." Harry started, watching the girl nod along. "Well, that was when he was weak. I could feel the magic of everyone in the room, he was stronger than most, but his snake, it came towards me in the vision, and its magic was a lot stronger than the Basilisk." He finished, watching Draco and Hermione's faces change to understanding.

"Voldemord's snake, of course. It's very likely that that's the medium, they're already linked magically after all…and it's a way that he can only transmit threats to you since you're the one that understands it. Where did you hear that voice?" she asked. "In a hallway, in the bedroom and later in the bathroom. But in the hallway it sounded so much like the Basilisk because I could hear it move and it sounded the same when it did. And that's gotten me thinking about the chamber of secrets. Since only I could open it and sure as heck don't want to, we never sealed it. There was no need to since no one even knew where it was. But a snake could open it even easier than I did, and I think it's using the pipes to move the same way, to follow me…everywhere." Harry explained. Draco frowned as he held him close. "I won't let it harm you." He promised him in a whisper.

'Ssso clevvver. Your friendsss are ssso lucky to have you…ssson…they will kill you.' The voice rang out again, Harry going completely pale in an instant. This time, Draco heard it too, having been sharing Harry's thoughts at the time, and he didn't look pale so much as ready to murder. "What did it say?" Hermione questioned, looking from Harry to Draco worriedly. "His friends will be forced to attack him. It's like a game to them." Draco whispered bitterly. "Well…it's control though magic. What about a shielding potion?" Hermione suggested quickly. "I'll need your help brewing it, but the more of Harry's friends we get to take it; the more we'll narrow down the possible attackers. And we'll build a group Harry can trust." She said, watching the veela nod eagerly.

"Yes, of course. I'll talk professor Snape into lending us some of the ingredients tomorrow." Draco promised, then leaned in to kiss his mate's hair soothingly. "See? It'll be alright. We'll do everything we can to make sure." He promised, sighing in relief when he felt Harry relax a little bit.

* * *

Harry sighed softly, shifting in Draco's hold to get a better view of the lake they were sitting by. He liked being outside now; it helped knowing that the snake could only move within the building. Draco was currently sitting with his back against a tree, holding his mate to his chest, wings around them in a wide circle, tensed protectively. "You know. You don't have to protect me." Harry started with another small sigh, not looking up at him. "I know we have to stay close to each other because the bond is so new but…It's not your duty to put yourself at risk for me, you know that right?" he added quietly. Draco huffed with a small roll of his eyes. "Potter, a duty to anyone could not force me to protect you." He drawled before his voice softened considerably. "I want to protect you because…my heart tells me to. And because I like being near you, and I couldn't bear to see you hurt. Who would I have to aspire to beat in Quidditch then?" he joked before dropping his head to his mate's shoulder, turning to case sideways at him. "I…really care about you….God I hope your listening Potter, I won't be repeating this." He grumbled, though a small smile still played on his lips, drawing a smile from Harry as well. "I love you. Bloody Gryffindor git." He grinned. "Slytherin prat." Harry responded. "Me too." He sighed after. Their lips met in a soft kiss, a pulse of magic spread through them both like fire. Draco let out a small gasp, his eyes sliding closed as he slumped forward to the ground.

"Draco. DRACO." Harry cried out fearfully, crouching over his unconscious mate. "What happened? Wake up. Please god. I love you. Wake up." Harry was whispering to him, his hands curled into fists, confused and afraid. He caught a glimpse of the small dragon and sat up straight. "Help him. Please." Harry begged, watching the dragon approach them. "You completed the emotional bond by admitting you loved each other. This forced him to go into the change early. He's coming into his inheritance. All his wizard blood and magic must be purged. It's a difficult process, especially since he wasn't ready for it. I cannot help. You are bonded to him. You must."

AN: INHERITANCE TIME. Finally...geez, took a while for this chapter. AND I've been having computer troubles these past days XD But I'm still not dead...see? *innocent look*


	16. To find a gift

AN: YEAH, still alive. Thank you to those people that bothered to review and message me. It's because of you guys that I keep going :)

* * *

'_I cannot help, you are bonded to him, you must'_

* * *

Harry held on to the blonde fearfully, not knowing how he could help him. As he was panicking he suddenly felt a shiver go through him, startling him out of his thoughts. "I'm so cold." he mumbled all of a sudden. He did feel cold, but it felt strange anyway, like the feeling was more distant than he was used to. After a moment of brooding he realized it wasn't his own feeling. "Of course...we're bonded...so I can feel what he feels, right?" he asked the small dragon, not waiting for an answer before scrambling up and lifting Draco gently, carrying him back inside to their rooms and laying him down on a few pillows in front of the fire place. He sat by him until the feeling of cold faded and another one took its place. Pain. If Harry hadn't been panicking before, he sure was now. How could he help Draco with that, he didn't even know any medicinal spells. It was too late to wake Madam Pomfrey, and she would ask too many questions to be of help. He looked around the room frantically, finding Hedwig and grabbing the bird. "Bring Hermione. Quick. Please." he told her, watching the bird fly off quickly.

He didn't have to wait long. As he was pacing through the lounge gathering more pillows and blankets he looked up at the sound of Hermione being pulled in by her sleeve. She stopped as she saw Draco on the floor, looking up at Harry worriedly. "Inheritance." he told her, knowing she understood what that meant. "He's hurting. I don't know what to do." he breathed quickly, kneeling beside his mate again. Hermione barely paused before taking out her wand, performing the strongest pain-relieving spell she knew. "How's that?" she asked the Gryffindor. Harry nodded after a moment, sighing in relief. "Thank you." he mumbled.

They spent the entire night tending to Draco. Pain-relieving spells when he was going through the purge cycles, blankets on and off as his blood adjusted to the changes, right up until it was time to head to the next day of classes. "Go. He won't be in any more pain from here on. The worst is over." Harry told her, smiling gratefully up at his friend. Hermione paused before nodding, leaving the two alone and heading out to grab her books before her first class.

As soon as she was out of the door Harry slumped to the ground next to Draco, breathing heavily. "I feel...so...tired." he mumbled slowly. '_I've been trying to warn you. You kept your magic linked with the young master this entire time. By wanting to help so badly you haven't let yourself disconnect from his magic. It is helping him, but your body cannot withstand the drain of magic that is now affecting you too. You must not stay connected to him.'_ the dragon warned heatedly, watching Harry struggle to sit up with something close to worry. "No. I'll be okay. It's more than halfway now. And he needs me. He's lost and scared and hurting. I'm not leaving." Harry decided stubbornly, stumbling over to the bedroom to get another blanket.

* * *

"This is an exception because students are in need of this potion. Do not take this for granted. My storage rooms are not a candy store." Snape growled, watching Granger go through his ingredients, picking out a few here and there. She had explained a little bit of the threats against Harry, just enough to convince the professor to let her use some of the rarer ingredients. She wanted to get started on the shielding potion, especially now since Draco was unconscious.

She lost track of time as she worked, having a small batch of potion ready in no time. Still, because of rushing, she only had enough for two persons. After taking half for herself, she decided to give the other half of the potion to Ron. Even though he was aloof, he could duel if he needed to. And she knew Harry didn't need any more hostilities coming from him. Especially not now.

Hermione cleaned up quickly, slipping the potion into Ron's pumpkin juice at lunch. She had wanted to go check up on Harry but classes had caught up with her and she figured if he needed her again she would get another Owl in her bedroom fluttering around. With that thought she tried to concentrate on homework for the night.

* * *

Draco shifted slowly, his eyes sliding open as he came to. He knew now he'd come into his inheritance; he felt it. Still, there was something strange about it. He knew now, from the knowledge floating around in his head, that the process should have been much worse than it was. Somehow, it had felt like something soothing held on to him the entire time, and he rode out the worst parts of the process relying on that. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, the blonde sat up, paling slightly when he saw his mate lying beside him. It was Harry. That soothing feeling that he had hung on to. He leaned over his mate worriedly, shaking him. "Harry. Wake up. please. Harry." he called out, breathing a great sigh of relief when the rave haired boy opened his eyes. "Thank Merlin. You could have gotten so hurt, that was so dangerous Potter. Don't ever do that again. " he growled, gathering up his mate in his arms. Harry chuckled tiredly. "Nah. I'm like a cockroach...can't kill me." he grinned, wrapping his arms around Draco. "How do you feel? You were in so much pain sometimes...you really scared me." Harry breathed.

Draco shook his head softly, kissing his cheek. "I'm all right. You kept me sane." he mumbled gratefully. "Everything feels strange, but normal at the same time. Almost like this is how I was always supposed to be." the blonde mumbled as he carried his mate tobed, setting him down gingerly and draping a blanket over him before curling up around Harry. "Get some rest." he mumbled, knowing that Harry was exhausted.

* * *

It had only been a few weeks since Draco had come into his inheritance, but somehow things seemed to be returning to normal. With the help of Granger they had brewed enough shielding potion to build up a group of trusted allies and the threats had died down and even stopped now. Somehow, everything had taken a turn for the better. Harry and Draco had grown closer and almost stopped insulting each other, almost. Everything seemed perfect, until winter vacation came along.

"If you like, you are invited to the Manor for the winter. My mother would like to get to know you." Draco suggested to his mate as he petted his hair absently. They were sitting on the large sofa in the lounge, lazing around on a Saturday afternoon. "I...don't know." Harry answered slowly. "What if she doesn't like me?" he mumbled with a small pout. "She will." Draco promised with an amused smile. Harry shrugged slowly. Thinking of the Dursleys he'd rather spend his winter in Alaska. He supposed meeting Draco's mother couldn't be too bad. "Okay. I'll come." Harry smiled softly.

He was still a little worried, but he trusted Draco, so he tried to distract himself with other thoughts. "Can we do something fun today?" he suggested, watching Draco raise an eyebrow. "Like what? Hogsmeade?" Draco suggested, smiling as he watched Harry nod eagerly. "Yeah, let's just get out of here. Besides, Harry still needed to find some sort of Christmas present for Draco. What the hell did you buy someone who had absolutely everything and enough money to buy everything else? Harry got up, getting a jacket and putting his potions book away before hopping back onto the couch. By this time, Draco was already dressed and ready, and he tugged the boy up, leading him out through the complaining portrait.

bar

By this time, Hermione Ron and Seamus had also headed out to Hogsmeade, everyone still having shopping to do. "Ron, stop staring at the broom, you have a great one already." Hermione hissed and the boy who kept stopping at practically every single store. Seamus just laughed and walked along with them. They were headed to the Wizards and Witches library, of course, since they had Hermione in the group. Neither of the two boys had the nerve to complain after getting yelled at earlier that morning so they just tagged along, completely absorbed in the pile of things they had gotten from Fred and George.

When they arrived at the Library Hermione headed in eagerly, leaving the other two to their business and telling them she'd just find them later, not wanting to be interrupted.

Harry and Draco had just finished a butterbeer and were walking around when they spotted the two. Draco sighed inwardly as he was dragged over, not really in the mood to be socializing. "Weasley. Companion." he greeted curtly. "Seamus. My name?" the boy grumbled, grinning at Harry though. "I actually need to talk to Hermione...I'm guessing she's in there...you guys can wander around, I'll meet up with you later?" Harry asked, looking up pleadingly at the blonde. "Fine." Draco sighed. Why did he always give in when Harry asked him to do something. Stupid dragon Veela gene.

Harry smiled happily at him and headed into the large building. "I actually have something to do, so if you two don't mind." Draco drawled, heading away and back to a few specific shops. "We'll be at the magical jokes shop." Seamus declared.

* * *

Harry wandered around aimlessly, sighing at all the glittering displays. He already had everything, what to get Draco was still a mystery. He did talk to Hermione, but the girl had been too distracted to really be of help, and Harry didn't blame her. This wasn't exactly easy. What did the blonde want that he didn't have already? He had everything magical and could buy everything else, so Harry decided to wander around one of the smaller shops, one that he knew carried some muggle merchandise. He found a few CDs he loved, smiling as he bought those and got them wrapped.

Draco wasn't having an easier time with Harry's gift. The Malfoy would of course never admit that he didn't know what to buy, just let his mind silently search for something, anything that might come across as a good idea. He stopped in front of one store, going in and picking out his gift, smiling softly as he hid it and headed back to meet Harry. He didn't have to agree on a meeting point with him, the Veela in him naturally tugged him in the right direction, and before long he spotted the Gryffindor. "All done?" he asked him, chuckling in amusement as Harry spun around. "Um, yeah, ready, we can go." he nodded. "What happened to Seamus and Ron?" he asked then, watching the blonde shrug. "They'll find their way back." he drawled. Harry rolled his eyes at the blonde. "You're damn special y'know." Harry snickered, taking his hand as they walked back to Hogwarts. "I feel special." Draco answered matter-of-factly, the Veela inside of him jumping happily at the touch.

* * *

Harry bit his lip as he tried to let the sway of the coach relax him, still dreading the idea of meeting Draco's parents. "It'll be fine." Draco mumbled softly, wrapping his arms around the raven haired boy. Harry smiled up at him, nodding and leaning against him for the rest of the ride. Malfoy Manor was more than impressive, freakin huge by Harry's standards. He didn't know how people managed to live in places so big. Still, his opinion changed as Draco led him in. Inside the seeming castle, something about it seemed...inviting. There was a pleasant calm, coupled with beautiful decorations and a natural light. "Wow...it's so...homey." Harry mumbled, smiling when he heard Draco burst into a laugh. "Only you." the blonde mumbled, shaking his head. He wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders, leading him in.


	17. Murderes Return

AN: **Hey guys, thank you so much for all of your wonderful support, keeps me nice and motivated. Please, continue to tell me what you think, it helps to know people's reactions to the chapters...and of course reviews are always nice and flattering too :D**

Warnings and disclaimers: Same as always. So let's get going with the next chapter shall we?

* * *

After having the house elves take their luggage away, Draco led his mate into a large study, knocking politely before stepping in, still holding the Gryffindor close. "Good afternoon mother, we've just arrived." Draco said, his voice still warm and pleasant. Narcissa looked up from the family trees she was studying, smiling and sweeping over to the two. "And you must be Harry." she smiled, the kind voice taking away some of his nervousness. He nodded and smiled back. "It's nice to meet you." Harry answered politely. "Well." Narcissa started. "I have to admit when Draco wrote to me about who he was bringing home for Christmas, I was surprised...but I always had a suspicion the Veela blood in my family had been passed on to him. I'm glad he found you." she smiled kindly. "Now, wash up and we shall have dinner in the gardens, it must have been a long trip for both of you." the woman added, humming to herself as she swept off to put away the books, leaving a slightly stunned Harry and chuckling Draco behind.

"It was really more my father's side that had all the built in insanity...my mother is quite pleasant, has been even more so now that she can run the house the way she sees fit." Draco explained as he led Harry up a large staircase, through winding corridors and luscious halls. "These are my rooms." he added as he pushed one of the doors open, leading up into a large common area with a bedroom, bath, study, potion's room and wardrobe all connected. "Wow." Harry mumbled, raising a thin eyebrow. You could have fit the entire Dursley's home in the space. "Are you sure it's big enough?" the raven haired boy snickered, tugging Draco onto the loveseat with him. "Could use a few more things." the blonde shrugged, kissing him deeply, curling around him. "I love you." Draco hummed happily, breathing in his mate's intoxicating scent. His heart gave a happy flutter when he heard Harry mumble 'love you too.' through the kisses.

"Ready to go eat dinner?" he asked, though he really didn't want to detach himself from Harry. "Yeah, we should be on time...first impressions and all." Harry chuckled, standing with him and letting the blonde lead him out to the gardens. There was a huge glass dome, filled with every kind of flower imaginable, all perfectly cared for. Just outside on a terrace, the dining area had a perfect view of the gardens, the lake and even a forest further on. It was breathtaking. Dinner went well, Narcissa seemed to like him, and the next few days were spent just getting a hang of where everything was.

* * *

Ron had just finished wrapping his present for Harry, having stayed at the school again. He already missed his friend, and he sighed as he re-read his letter to him one last time.

_Dear Harry_, it read

_I wish I could tell you all that I said was because someone had me under the Imperius curse too. It wasn't. I had Hermione check me again, and it turns out that voice I kept hearing that was egging me on, getting me mad at you, was coming from someone else. But it only worked because I was starting to get mad at you anyway. I wanted to tell you again how sorry I was for how I yelled at you. You're my best friend, the first person that didn't just peg me as a looser because of my hand-me-down robes. I know you'll need time to forgive me, but I wanted you to know I'm okay with Malfoy, even if it is Malfoy. I told my parents what happened, and they took away pretty much everything I had, but they're still letting me write to you. And I wanted you to know you're still welcome at the Burrow any time, even Malfoy. _

_Still your mate,_

_Ron._

_PS: Marry Christmas. Hope you're having fun._

After addressing the letter to Harry and tying that to the wrapped present, he let his owl carry that away, bounding downstairs to get some more dinner, feeling a little better already.

* * *

"Huh?" Harry mumbled, groggy, barely able to open his eyes. It was way too early. "Come on, sleepy. Presents." the Veela above him grinned, hopping off the bed and giggling happily. Harry chuckled softly as he heard the sound of wrapping paper being torn and crumpled. "You're adorable." he mumbled, stifling a yawn and deciding he might as well get up too. He wasn't surprised to see Draco's pile of presents overflowing, but this time Harry's pile was decent in size too. He watched his mate open presents eagerly before grabbing a package, starting to open it. Hermione sent him another broomstick kit and a new book: "The Veela and their cousins. Little known facts." He smiled gratefully and put that aside. Hagrid had sent his usual treats, Fred and George had supplied him with a huge pile of things from their joke shop, and there was the expected jumper and treats from Mrs. Wesley too. Even Remus had sent him a present. A few more photographs of his parents, an interesting book on rare spells and some sweets. He'd spotted the package from Ron too, and finally decided to open it. It was a brand new snitch, with a book on how to charm locations restrictions on it so he could use it for practice. After reading the letter, he sighed happily, relieved. He told himself he'd still give Ron a hard time for a bit longer once they got back, but even though he wouldn't admit it, he'd pretty much forgiven him. After all, he was his friend, no matter how stupid he could get. He looked up from his pile of unwrapped presents to Draco, who was practically buried in new clothes, new books, new potions ingredients and some very expensive looking cauldrons and distillers.

"You look happy." Harry mumbled, watching Draco turn around with a big grin. "I love Christmas." he answered, starting to arrange some of the new clothes in his wardrobe. "What's the best present so far?" Harry asked. The blonde just grinned and pounced on the bed, drawing him into a deep kiss. "You being here." he mumbled, causing Harry to blush a deep red.

Harry spent the next hour helping clear away all the wrapping paper, figuring he'd give the house elves a break, as Draco unwrapped the last of his things. He saw him come across the package he'd given him, blushing again. "You could...just leave that wrapped...if you want." he mumbled. Draco raised an eyebrow, seeing that it was addressed to him from Harry, now only more curious. He took out the CD player and CDs carefully, looking completely confused. Harry chuckled and sat next to him. "You don't know much about muggle things, do you?" he smiled. Draco huffed in response. "We have the same things, but less trouble, here in the magical shops. "Yeah yeah, I still like this version the best." Harry chided, taking his favourite CD and setting the headphones on Draco's ears, chuckling again at his confused expression, hitting the play button. He watched Draco's face go through several expressions, each funny, before settling on a surprised but happy smile. "This is actually...really cool." the blonde mumbled, kissing his mate happily. "Thank you." he grinned, putting it away carefully before grabbing the last box on the floor, a small square black case. "This one is for you." Draco added, handing it to his mate. Harry opened it carefully, gasping softly. It was a silver chair with a pendant of a snake curled in a circle, carved out of a single piece of sapphire. "It's beautiful." he mumbled, blushing again as Draco took it to attach it around his neck. "You can speak to it, ask it to show you the way if you're ever lost." he explained. Harry grinned and swept him into another kiss, mentally pegging this as the best day yet.

* * *

The rest of the vacation passed in a blur, and before they knew it, it was almost time to head back already. Harry was lying comfortably with his head on Draco's lap when Hedwig fluttered in. Draco pouted slightly when his mate's touch had left him, glaring at the owl discreetly from behind his potions book. Harry hummed and took the letter from her, chuckling as she nipped affectionately at his finger. "Probably from Hermione. She's in Amsterdam with her family for Christmas. They always go visit a new place." he added, opening the letter. He went suddenly quiet as he recognized the hand wiring, that scrawled messy lettering that he'd missed more than anything last summer. Draco sensed his mate was upset, putting the book down. "Harry?" he asked, watching the boy sniffle oddly and hand him the letter. "It's...probably an old letter, from before...can you read it? My eyes...I've got something in my eye." he mumbled quickly, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his palm. Draco nodded and placed a comforting arm around him before starting to read the strange letter out loud.

"Dear Harry." he started. "Hedwig found me just yesterday, I don't know how, but you've got some owl there. I'm sorry I left, sorry for what I put you through and sorry I couldn't write before now. The veil never killed me, probably because I was so frightened so I changed right after I fell in. Maybe it was prepared to kill only a human, because as a dog, it trapped me for a while, and then weakened enough so I could break out. I couldn't remember much, and I'll avoid any names in case you're not reading this privately. After my memories returned I spent a few weeks in hiding before Hedwig found me. I haven't managed to find a way to get a reliable owl out to Moony, so please tell him I'm alright. I'm in London now, following Wormtail. I think I've got him cornered. Harry, if I get him alive, I might get free. I'd be able to come see you. I miss you, you're so much like James, without that annoying smell. (Sorry, I know jokes won't help much.) I have a favour to ask. If I find Wormtail, I can't bring him to Dumbledore by myself. I know he'll believe me but if I'm seen on my way there by anyone I'll land straight back in Azkaban. I need you to tell Dumbledore to meet me, at the Shrieking Shack, once I've got him. Then, with Veritaserum, we'll finally get him to pay for what he did.

I miss you cub,

your Padfoot.

That's all there is. No name, no address." Draco added, looking at Harry with worry. "Are you alright?" the blonde mumbled, stroking his hair soothingly. "Who is this from?" he was asking.

"My...my godfather...pretty much the only real family I had left until he...well, we all thought he died. It was my fault." Harry mumbled sadly. He paused for a moment, taking out the pendant from under his shirt. "Can this thing find people?" he asked Draco hopefully. The Veela nodded. "If they are reasonably close by...ask it." he suggested. Harry nodded and stared at the snake in his palm, whispering 'help me find Padfoot' though what came out was a strange hiss. The pendant shook in his palm before the snake started to move, uncoiling and pointing in the good direction. Harry drew in a deep breath before standing. "I have to go find him." he told Draco determinedly. Draco just nodded simply and put his book away before taking his hand and leading him to the terrace, letting his wings unfold. The deep red scale-like feathers shook with energy as he beat his wings a few times, stretching them. "Just point me in the right direction." he added, picking Harry up gently and lifting off. "Thank you." the Gryffindor mumbled quietly.

They flew for a long while until the snake pendant led them to an area near Hogsmeade, where Draco set him down so they could continue on foot, not wanting to attract too much attention to themselves. Harry was biting at his lip nervously, following the snake's directions and stopping in front of an old, abandoned looking building. "It's protected by a few spells, I can see the magic." Draco told him, holding Harry back when the boy rushed to get inside. "Can you get past them?" he asked. "Of course." Draco scoffed, making quick work of the protective spells, his magic strong enough to just bend them out of the way. He followed Harry inside carefully, looking out for anything that might prove dangerous. His head snapped back to Harry when he heard him gasp. He caught a glimpse of the man Harry was looking at and immediately pulled him back behind him, his wings unfurling and dangerously sharp, his magic spreading, ready to kill the man if he even blinked the wrong way. "No. Draco. That's him. Sirius Black is my godfather...he was my dad's best friend. I know you think he's an escaped murdered but he was set up. Please, don't hurt him." Harry pleaded. Draco didn't back down until he saw Harry's desperate gaze, sighing and standing down slightly. "If you try to hurt him, you die." he warned the man.

Sirius stared at the two, bewildered, his face sunken in and weak. Still, when Harry ran up to him he threw his arms around the boy, clutching at him desperately. His smile was genuine, relieved, deliriously happy as his eyes started to water. He could hear the boy crying quietly into his shoulder. "Harry." he breathed out.

AN: **So there you have it, one more chapter. I love Sirius too much to let him die off...As always, Reviews are welcome :) Until next chapter, FOB.**


	18. If you love it set it free

**AN**: Thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews! I really appreciate the people who take time to review, makes my day and shows me people still want this continued. **So, let's have a poll then, shall we? I was thinking of adding in a little SiriusXLupin in here, what do you guys think?**

Disclaimers and Warnings as usual, see first chapter. Let's get going!

* * *

"Harry." Sirius breathed out in relief. Harry pulled himself together and released his hold on him to look up at his godfather. "I can't believe you're here..." the boy mumbled, shuddering slightly as he thought back to the night he had lost him. He started to say something else before just shaking his head and clutching Sirius close. "Harry..." Draco started. "Look, you're kind of embracing a convicted murderer and escapee..." the blonde prodded carefully. Harry sighed softly. "I can't talk about it, I can't describe it again...but just...look in my memories." he mumbled. Sirius looked slightly distraught at the idea. "But...he's a Malfoy." he mumbled, causing Draco to roll his eyes. The blonde shifted to kneel beside his mate, closing his eyes and placing his palm on the back of Harry's neck, nudging his mind to open. As soon as Harry let him in, he was flooded with memories, of how he had met Sirius, how they had discovered he was not the murderer, the dreams of the Department of Mysteries, the archway, and finally the endless grief when his godfather had been pushed through. Draco pulled back quickly, already feeling like he'd crossed a line by seeing so much. He stood silent for a moment before placing a comforting palm on the small of his back. "This is really...real? You're okay?" the boy mumbled. Draco leaned in to kiss his hair softly. "He's real...promise." the blonde mumbled.

Meanwhile, Sirius stared at the both of them, dumbfounded. First, there was a Malfoy near Harry and they weren't trying to kill each other, then there was the fact that he's just seen Draco Malfoy kiss his godson's hair. "Harry...that's...well...what the hell?" he mumbled quietly. Harry straightened up slightly to look up at Sirius, smiling happily. "I had the same reaction at first, but he's not evil...promise." he grinned. "He's a Veela...and I kind of ended up being his mate...but I know what you're thinking and he's nothing like Lucius Malfoy. Promise. I trust him with my life." the Gryffindor mumbled sheepishly. "Hnh...well..that's definitely...unexpected...Moony would have a heart attack but I'm fine." Sirius started, his voice slightly squeaky. He stared in silence from one to the other. "You really trust him?" he asked. "Really really." Harry grinned, chuckling slightly. Sirius straightened up, running his fingers through his already messy hair. "Well...okay...I mean...I'm shocked, but I guess I missed a lot already...and...you deserve something happy." he was mumbling oddly.

"Harry." Draco interrupted. "I saw...the prophecy breaking. The one about you and...him." he started. "It broke?" Sirius started, appalled. "Before or after Voldemort heard it?" he asked quickly. Sirius had never gotten to know how everything had ended that day. "I think that's what Draco was about to ask too." Harry sighed. "It broke and no one heard it over the noise in the room with all of the fighting in the room. Voldemort was furious of course...but he already knew a piece of the prophecy before. And...Dumbledore told me the whole thing afterwards...I wasn't listening to most of the things he said, I still wanted to get back to that veil and find a way to pull you back...but that part I listened to...and...if it's okay-" he paused. "I really don't want to talk about that...I haven't told Ron and Hermione either. I'll have to eventually...but just not now. Please?" he mumbled. Sirius looked down and his distraught godson and nodded, hugging him again. "I won't ask again. You'll just tell me when you're ready." he nodded.

"This...Wormtail. Pettigrew. He's here in London?" Draco asked, startling Harry who had already forgotten what they were originally here for, too overwhelmed at seeing Sirius again. "Yes." Sirius growled. "I tracked him this far, but I can't just walk up to him and demand he's arrested...and even if I manage to capture him again, I'd need some way to get him back to Dumbledore...he's the only one who'll believe me that also has enough power to do something about it." Sirius sighed. "But...all I needed from you was to contact Dumbledore for me." he added quickly. Harry snorted in disbelief. "I lost you, spent an entire year reliving that night in my dreams, trying to find some way I could talk to you again, and you want me to just leave now to go write a letter to Dumbledore? If Wormtail's here we're finding him and dragging him back to Dumbledore together." he mumbled determinedly, his gaze unwavering as he stared up at his godfather. Sirius whined softly before turning to Draco. "You talk him out of this." he demanded. The blonde just rolled his eyes again. "I didn't just see his memories..I felt them." he mumbled softly. "I'm helping you find that rat so you can be set free." Draco added. "I can feel magic around me, see it move. If you give me some time, I can find him. I doubt there's another rat animagus around. I'll be able to tell his magic apart from the rest, then lead you to him, weather he tries to run or not." he added.

Sirius tried to protest again but was cut short by the look in Harry's eyes. "Alright, but if I get seen, you tell anyone who'll listen that I just sprang at you and attacked you, otherwise you two will end up in the same boat I am for harbouring and escaped murderer." he mumbled grudgingly. Harry didn't protest, something else on his mind. "How long will you need to find him?" he asked Draco. "You came into your inheritance early...and the bond is still so new...are you sure you'll be okay doing this?" he asked.

Draco nodded with a small reassuring smile. "I'll find him in no time." he drawled, moving to sit cross legged on the dusty wooden floor. "Just...don't move around too much, it'll be distracting." he added before closing his eyes. It was a moment before Harry felt it, but when he did he gasped audibly. It felt like the air in the room was all moving towards Draco, so much magic gathering that it crackled visibly around him. His gaze stayed fixed on his mate, still a little worried. "Are you sure that's a Veela?" Sirius paled. "Dragon Veela...rare cousin, technicality." Harry shrugged.

* * *

Dumbledore looked up curiously when Fawkes rose from his perch and let out a melodic note before coming to rest in front of him on his desk. He had returned to his office for a few of his possessions and was now just turning to leave for another appointment of his. "Are we needed already?" he asked the bird, who just spread its wings impatiently. Dumbledore paused for a moment as he felt the distant pulses of magic. "Very well...Let us find out what is causing this." the Headmaster agreed, taking hold of one of it's tail feathers and pursing his lips in thought as he was carried away and towards the edge of Hogsmeade.

When they landed he let the bird soar up again to lead him. He watched Fawkes head to a series of abandoned buildings and huts, circling above one in particular and letting out a soft melodic song. "Oh dear." the Headmaster sighed as he followed, drawing his wand.

* * *

"Found him." Draco whispered softly, eyes still closed as he concentrated on keeping him within his sight. "Follow Harry...I'll show him where to go...and change into your dog form, you'll have to travel a but outside, around other Wizards who might recognize you." he mumbled, trying to keep his voice steady. He knew doing this would drain his magic, he just hadn't expected it to be so difficult. Still, he couldn't give in now that they were so close. He wanted to do this for Harry. After seeing those memories, feeling how hurt his made had been, how grief stricken, he wanted to help Sirius to freedom.

"Thank you." Harry mumbled, getting up with Padfoot right by his side. He took a moment to adjust to the odd sight, trying to focus on the odd lights around him before realizing that this was what it must be like for Draco to see magic. He thanked the blonde again before dashing out of the old house, wand out, the large black dog running with him. He led Padfoot through the village, over to a small specialty sweets store, obviously put out of business by the Weasley twins. He headed around the back where he was out of the sight of the Wizards walking leisurely through the streets. "Alohomora." he whispered, catching the lock when it fell open. "There's a cellar here I think...he's somewhere underground." he told Sirius as he stepped inside, trying to be quiet as he walked about the abandoned shop. He turned when he heard a soft bark behind him, heading over to Sirius and helping him pull open the cellar door, descending the stairs slowly. What followed him down was not a dog, but Sirius in his human form again, wand out and expression truly murderous.

Harry jumped slightly as he heard a high pitched squeal and fell to the ground as something large hurdled towards him, knocking his wand out of his hand. When he blinked up he found himself face to face with Pettigrew, still round but weak and desperate looking, with a gaze close to madness. He pointed his wand at Harry, but before he could mutter his curse a fist had collided with his jaw, knocking him back. Sirius growled dangerously, hitting him again before raising his want and shouting 'Stupefy', watching Wormtail slump to the ground. Harry scrambled up and conjured roped to bind him. He froze as another jet of light sprang forth from his wand, encircling Wormtail and glimmering oddly like a blue rope. '_It will keep him from changing back into a rat. I already led Dumbledore here with his bird. I love you'_ Harry heard Draco say, speaking as clearly as if he was in the room with them. "Harry. Harry." Sirius said again, shaking him slightly. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Y-Yeah, he won't be able to change back, Draco helped with that, we have to get him back to that building, but we can't be seen." he explained. Sirius nodded and muttered a few words, the tip of his wand releasing a mist that fell over the three of them. "It'll hide us but not too well so we'll best keep to the back alleys." he mumbled, flicking his wand with disgust at the unconscious man and levitating him up a few feet into the air, starting back, still panting quickly. This was it. He was finally going to be free. He was going to be allowed to go outside, see his friends, have Harry stay over for summer. He was so taken with his thoughts he almost didn't notice when Harry stopped moving. The taller man turned to look back at him.

Harry gazed up at him wordlessly. "I...got cut off from Draco...I can't feel him anymore...It's probably just him pulling back his magic...but it still feels weird. Feels bad. I want to get back." Harry said, starting up again with renewed energy. Even though they were moving fast they had to stay hidden and avoid anyone passing around them, so it took them over two hours to return. When they did finally get back into the building, the room in which they had started out was empty. "Draco?" Harry called out, starting to get worried.

"He is no longer here." Albus Dumbledore answered, stepping towards the three from a shadowed corner of the room. "Sir?" Harry asked, paling slightly. Dumbledore pressed the tips of his fingers together, sighing. "He is in Saint Mungo's. You should go to him. Fawkes will take you there." he added. Harry whimpered slightly, turning to look back at Sirius, torn. He wanted to get to Draco as soon as he could, but part of him didn't want to leave Sirius behind, not after already losing him once. "Harry...I have made many mistakes, and some have cost you things very dear to your heart, but I promise you this. " Dumbledore started softly. "Sirius will be safe, and with me, when you return. " he added.

Harry looked from the reassuring gaze of his Headmaster to the bewildered and slightly panicked look Sirius was giving him, nodding slowly. He turned to Fawkes and grabbed a hold of his tail feather like he had done back in his second year. "Take me to Draco. Please." he mumbled urgently, his stomach still giving an odd lurch when he was lifted off the ground, the weightless sensations still unpleasant.

* * *

"Very well. We are here for the trial of Sirius black, accused of murder, betrayal and allegiance to He -Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Defending him is Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and to provide the Veritaserum, Potions Master Severus Snape. Being brought in front of the council, Peter Pettigrew-" Cornelius Fudge said, his voice wavering slightly now. "believed to be dead by the hands of Sirius black." he finished, gazing wearily at the four men before him. "Please present your case." he said, quietly, as if hoping they would not hear him.

"Thank you, Minister." Dumbledore nodded, standing up from his seat. Beside him sat Sirius and Pettigrew, both bound by their chairs. "Sirius Black was the secret keeper of James and Lilly Potter. However, he persuaded them to change secret keepers at the last minute because he feared he might soon be captured by Voldemort. They chose their old school friend, Peter Pettigrew, who they believed Voldemort would not suspect. However, out of fear, and malice...Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potter family to Voldemort and after their murder staged his own death while framing Sirius black for the betrayal of James and Lilly Potter and the murder of the muggles there after. Professor Snape has already administered the Veritaserum to both of them, I believe you will find their answers to your questions...enlightening. " Dumbledore explained, sitting back down and waiting patiently for them to begin their questioning.

* * *

"Draco...come on...wake up...please." Harry was whispering, brushing the white blonde hair away from his face. He was sitting on one of the beds next to Draco, who was still unconscious since having been brought there by Dumbledore. He could feel the bond tugging him closer, connecting them, and he let his magic flow to Draco, healing him. He stayed by his side until those liquid silver eyes blinked up at him. "Thank god...you're awake.." Harry breathed out in relief, leaning down to kiss him gently. "Your magic is pretty strong...and I heal fast." Draco mumbled with a small shrug. "Draco, what happened?" Harry asked, still holding on to him. The blonde sighed, though almost inaudibly. "You were right. Since I came into my inheritance early and our bond is so new, my magic got drained much quicker than I had hoped. It takes a bit to search every person and rat in an entire village." he mumbled, kissing Harry again gently when he saw that the distraught expression had not lifted from his face. "I'm alright, really." Draco assured him. "Why the hell didn't you stop? We could have found him some other way..." Harry was saying. "I...I saw your memories and I just...wanted you to be happy, and to have your family back. I saw how much you cared about him and how important he was to you...like a mix of father and brother. I wanted to make sure he would be set free...for you." he explained sheepishly. Harry sighed and shook his head, kissing him softly again. "Don't ever scare me like that again." he mumbled, though his tone was calm and relieved. "I love you, you bloody idiot." he mumbled against his lips.

"Gryffindor git." Draco sniggered.

* * *

**AN**: Another chapter over! Originally, I was going to leave you guys handing about what had happened to Draco, but I figured leaving you thinking about the trial was fine too. So then, let me know what you think about adding in a little SiriusXRemus in here...I personally like the pairing and think it would be adorable...Thoughts?


	19. Completed Bond

AN: Yet another chapter up. I had some lovely reviews and I want **MORE MORE MORE**. I love hearing from people, even if it's just dropping by to say they have read the new chapter, keeps me motivated and lets me know people are enjoying the story!

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"I'm fine." Draco drawled, resisting the urge to just curse the St. Mungo's healer. He slid past her as she faked gasps of concerns to follow him. Stupid Veela and their weird magnetic attraction. He dodged the woman again, spotting his mate in the lobby, smiling and heading over. "Ready to go." he told him, watching Harry startle out of his thoughts cutely before smiling back. "Okay. I was just trying to think of where to." Harry mumbled with a sigh. "We don't know where anyone is." he pointed out. Draco pursed his lips in thought. "I guess I missed a bit. Why don't we just head back to school? There are only two days left before everyone else is set to return, and I can have our things sent there. That way we'll know the minute Dumbledore is back." the blonde suggested. Harry agreed, still lost in thought as he worried about his godfather. "Okay, let's go, we should be able to floo to Hogsmeade and go from there." Harry suggested, heading to one of the fireplaces. He really did hate travelling by floo powder. As he grabbed a fistful of the powder and stepped in, calling out 'Leaky Cauldron' he cursed himself for suggesting the damn thing. Floo was not exactly the most comfortable mode of transportation. Draco followed close behind him, stepping out and brushing a bit of ash from his sleeve and wrapping an arm around Harry, leading him back. "They'll be fine, he assured as they walked.

It wasn't long before they were stepping back through the familiar gates, heading to their rooms and giving the portrait the password. "At least we didn't have to sleep in some random place just because the passwords for the common rooms change over vacation." Harry chuckled as he stepped into the familiar rooms, sinking into one of the couches and sighing tiredly. He didn't want to just sit around and wait, so he got up to go to his desk instead, pulling out parchment and his favourite quill. "Who are you writing to?" Draco asked as he sat down on the loveseat, not wanting to intrude. "Lupin, Hermione, Ron...I obviously can't tell them what happened over owl, but I can at least give them a hint." Harry shrugged. It was only a quick message, and after a trip to the owelry he was back and asking Dobby for some sort of dinner. The house elf popped up in the room immediately, bowing low and greeting Harry happily before disappearing. A few minutes later, he was back with more food than Harry cared to keep count of, setting that all in their kitchen. "Thanks Dobby." Harry grinned, causing the elf to squeal happily and bow again. "Anything for master Harry Potter." he squeaked, disappearing again with that familiar pop. Draco got up to get a sandwich, nibbling on that as he sat down across from Harry.

"I've been meaning to ask something." the blonde started, watching his mate pick at his food. "When you let me see your memories...I felt them too. After you lost Sirius, all your thoughts and feelings were as if you'd lost the only family you had. Why? Don't you have family that you go back to in the summers? And pardon my words, but in the Slytherin common room they're said to treat you like royalty." Draco explained carefully, trying not to upset his mate more. Harry rolled his eyes at the last comment, mumbling under his breath. "The royalty thing is not quite true." he replied icily. "You should come over sometime, meet them, it would be entertaining." he added, sighing after. "But really, back to the question. I don't consider those people family. I'm related to them I suppose, but that's about it. And of course I have other family, like the Weasleys, and now your mother, but Siri...Siri was, is my godfather. He knew my dad, was his best friend. And for the short time I got to spend with him he was wonderful, like a father and brother, the only sense of close family, real family. When he was gone it felt like everything was gone with him." Harry said, eyes fixed on the food in front of him, eating slowly more to have something to do than out of hunger. Draco listened quietly, finishing up his food quickly. "He'll be okay." he reassured Harry, kissing his cheek softly as he passed by him. The raven haired boy smiled up at him gratefully. "Thanks. And thank you for helping me find him, and for helping us find Wormtail." he added, getting up to kiss him properly, wrapping his arms around the blonde and hiding his face in the other's shoulder. Draco sighed and picked him up gently, sitting him down on the couch and leaning on the cushions with him comfortably, petting his hair. "Anytime."

* * *

"Master Harry Potter, Sir. Dumbledore is here to see you sir." Dobby squeaked, causing Harry to turn around and look at him dumbly, toothbrush still hanging out of his mouth. Neither him nor Draco had had any news, and it was now going on the second day, so Harry was quite relieved to hear Dumbledore was finally back. "Mkay." he nodded, rinsing out his mouth and heading out of the bathroom. Harry turned to the sitting area, looking anxiously from Draco to Dumbledore and back. "Where's Siri...is he okay?" he said worriedly. Dumbledore chuckled and nodded, pressing the tips of his fingers together like usual. "Ah yes, that is why I must speak with you both. Sirius has been cleared of all charges." he declared. Harry's shoulders sagged with relief and he bounded over to hug Draco, deliriously happy. "But." Dumbledore started, causing both of the boys to drop their smiles slightly.

"The wizarding world still regards him as an escaped convict, at it will take some time for everyone to adjust to the news. I am afraid Sirius would have much trouble amongst other wizards for some time. I wanted to ask you two if you would like to keep a dog for the rest of the school year." he smiled. Harry turned to Draco, eyes begging. "Can we please? He's annoying but wonderful and I miss him so much, and he has to have somewhere to stay..." Harry whispered. His fingers were clutching hopefully at Draco's shirt. The blonde laughed and nodded. "As long as he doesn't disturb us he can have the guest room." he agreed, kissing Harry gently. "Anything for you love." he hummed. Harry grinned happily, hugging him again before staring expectantly up at Dumbledore. "When can he get here?" Harry asked hopefully. The headmaster paused for a moment. "He should be here shortly. And your friends are also here to see you, so I believe it is time for me to go." he told them, nodding curtly before making his way to the portrait.

Harry looked at Draco curiously, watching the blonde shrug slowly. "Well, they are all standing at the door. Shall I let them in?" he asked, not waiting for an answer before swooping to the portrait with a small smirk, letting it swing open. He expertly dodged the huge black dog that bounded straight into Harry's arms, greeting the others politely as they filed in. It seemed like Dumbledore had let the whole world know what was going on, seeing as how half the Weasleys and Hermione were now all gathered in the sitting area. All were talking excitedly and taking turns to hug Sirius, who had now changed back to his human form for the moment. "Dumbledore filled you all in?" Draco asked them, watching a few of them nod in turn, all too busy talking over each other. Still, looking at Harry so blissfully happy, it made him smile as well, and he let himself be pulled into the joyous group. It was settled that Sirius would take the guest room, and would assume his dog form whenever someone else was around, so as not to cause an uproar. Draco turned for a moment, looking from the subsiding bustle to the door.

"Sirius?" Lupin whispered, having just walked in. Sure, Dumbledore had let him know about the situation, but to see him in the flesh, alive, happy...

"Moony." Sirius mumbled, stumbling over and pulling him into a fond hold, hiding his face in the werewolf's shoulder. Lupin held on to him, fighting off the wave of emotion that threatened to turn into a public display. The rest of the crowd felt the need for a private moment, and most excused themselves and headed to the great hall for a quick lunch. "Are they mates?" Draco asked Harry curiously, sensing some sort of bond between the two. "Uh...I...have no clue." Harry admitted, a little awkward at the thought.

* * *

The rest of the school year passed in a blur. Lupin was around more and more, spending quite a bit of time around Sirius, which Harry didn't complain about since he and Draco did like their privacy. The attacks on Harry had died down, and for a while it seemed almost like Voldemort had given up, though Harry knew deep down that it couldn't be that easy. Still, he knew he'd have to face him one way or another, so he didn't complain about the fact that it might not be so soon. It was almost time to head home for the summer, and Harry was terrified. Draco could of course tell something was wrong.

"You don't seem too happy about going...you're more than welcome to come to the manor." Draco prodded again. "I told you about the protection...I have to go, at least for a couple of weeks." Harry explained with a sigh. They were both lying on their bed, on the night before their last day of classes. Draco was on his back, his arms holding Harry as they spoke, fingers trailing soft circles over his skin. "And I can't join you?" Draco frowned. "I really, really, doubt you'd make it through two weeks there." Harry reminded gently, eyes already closed. Draco huffed and turned to hold himself above Harry for a moment before kissing him deeply. "You know I'll be there if you need me to." he promised, kissing him again. Harry kissed back, and before either of them knew it, it turned into much more than kisses.

* * *

"Really Moony, I can make toast." Sirius huffed. "And survive on that all by yourself all summer? Nonsense, I'm coming to live with you." Lupin decided, both of them having gathered in the morning in the sitting area for tea. "I don't want you to be there just because I can't cook." Sirius mumbled, eyes downcast. He and Lupin had been getting quite a bit closer over the past months, but there had been a few arguments too.

Remus paused at the comment, smiling gently. "Stupid. I'll be there because I want to be...and I kind of like you." he pointed out with a chuckle, kissing him gently. Sirius grinned and wrapped his arms around him. "Kay, but then we gotta tell everyone we're officially hooked up." he hummed. Lupin huffed and rolled his eyes. "Do we have to? All the commotion...all the things I want to do don't really require any approval." the werewolf smirked.

"Well, we've already packed, guess we could go out to lunch then? And we can iron out the details over food...Y'know, since I'm not scary on the streets anymore." Sirius grinned quietly. Lupin chuckled and nodded, grabbing his coat and followed him out.

* * *

Draco had not gotten out of bed that day, at least not to go far. He was currently tangled in Harry. kissing the skin above his collarbone as dark wings surrounded him protectively. "It feels so...perfect. To have the bond finally completed, like it was always meant to be this way." Harry mumbled, purring at the soft kisses. Draco smiled gently, nodding. "It is. You're beautiful, my love." the blonde whispered, pulling him into another kiss. "Have they gone out again?" Harry mumbled, hearing the portrait swing shut after Remus and Sirius had taken off. "Hmm, yep." Draco grinned, turning to straddle his hips again. "We can be loud." Draco mumbled against his mate's lips, grinning mischievously. "Hell yeah." the Gryffindor answered, pulling him into another heated kiss.


	20. Tricked and Targeted

AN: Extra long chapter for the extra long wait. YEAH 3

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Harry could hardly believe they had less than two months of school left before this year would come to an end. There had been so much that had happened in the last year. Draco and himself were bonded now, Sirius was safe, Lupin managed to run off with him...with all of this commotion, he had practically forgotten about the attack at the beginning of the year. Thankfully, his friends still remained vigilant. Hermione, with Draco's help, kept brewing shielding potions which all of Harry's close friends took regularly. Although there had been no trace of the snake for a while now, they all still kept up with their potions, though none of them spoke to Harry about it. As far as they were concerned, Harry had enough things to worry about. School was actually going alright for a change. With his mate's constant tutoring he had managed to get decent at potions so now besides History of Magic all of his grades were quite good. In general, Harry felt happier than he ever remembered being.

"What are you dreaming about now?" Draco asked his mate, snapping him out of his wandering thoughts. They were both sitting around the coffee table in their rooms, Draco drinking his tea while Harry had just been loafing on the sofa. "Oh, nothing...everything. Just sort of thinking about this last year." Harry explained with a small smile, his hand drifting over the table to lace his fingers with Draco's, a gesture they had gotten quite fond of. "I see. I suppose it has been quite eventful." the blonde agreed, setting his empty mug down. "Well, it's almost noon, I suppose we can go have an early lunch. It's a Sunday after all. We can have the rest of the day to figure out a way to entertain ourselves." the Slytherin grinned suggestively, pecking at Harry's lips. "Yeah, yeah. Lunch first." he insisted, standing up with a small laugh. "One track mind, that Veela." the Gryffindor pointed out, to which Draco just shrugged with a confident smirk.

A few minutes later they were both headed to the great hall, looking forward to a quick bite to eat. Since Ron had blurted out that they were mates in front of the whole school Draco and Harry had been taking turns sitting at either the Gryffindor or Slytherin table. The Slytherins had been surprisingly accepting once Draco assured them he was worthwhile, perhaps even a little more accepting than some Gryffindors. It was strange to think how Harry had become so used to both houses. Then again, when he had first arrived at Hogwarts the Sorting Hat had hesitated between the two so maybe that was an indication of why he seemed to get along with both now. In any case, today was Gryffindor day, and although there weren't many people in the hall at the moment they still found a few Gryffindors to sit with.

Seamus, Fred and George greeted them as they sat down and Harry said a quick hello before starting to pile some food onto his plate. "So...haven't seen you two at breakfast. What were you up to? Nothing too inappropriate we hope!" the twins sad, both letting out a hearty laugh as Harry blushed and tried to change the subject. Draco just raised a thin brow, eating quietly. Malfoys were fairly adept at not showing emotion and this was becoming quite useful around the two Weasleys. "What we did with our morning is none of your concern, I assure you." Draco drawled, inducing another fit of giggles in the twins. "And now that our privacy was invaded...how is the shop going?" Harry asked the twins.

The two looked at each other with a wide grin before leaning in close. "Well Harry." George started. "This is on the down low...but there's a new product." Fred continued. "and it explodes and leaves behind rainbow taffy that's enchanted to stick to anyone that tries to run." they both finished proudly. "That sounds...please don't ever make it chase me." Harry laughed in response.

"Wackspurts sometimes chase rainbows...they would really like your shop." came an airy voice, and a strange looking blonde girl sat across from them. "Hello Luna." Harry greeted her. He hadn't seen her in a long time and he'd only recently managed to catch her up on everything that happened throughout the year. "Wackspurts?" Draco asked. He'd only met Luna once or twice, and he couldn't say he thought she was all...sane. "Yes, they live mostly around areas with lots of wizards, my father studied them for a long time." Luna answered with a smile, starting to pile rice onto her plate, counting each grain as she did so. The Slytherin stared at her in disbelief for a moment, wondering why no one else thought it was odd to be speaking to her. "Wackspurts don't exists. No one has even heard of this random name." he pointed out, his voice condescending. Harry was a little surprised to hear his mate sounds so harsh, looking up at him with a small frown. Luna didn't seem to be too affected by the comment. "You can read all about it in the Quibbler. Would you like an issue?" she smiled, pushing a magazine across the table to him. "Loony, this is ridiculous. You can't possibly believe what's written there. It's not even close to facts." he retorted, the usual Slytherin sneer back in place. Harry stared at him in disbelief before kicking his leg under the table. "Draco." he said through his teeth. "Luna's father prints the Quibbler..and you don't need to call her loony." Harry told him, getting a little peeved now.

"It's alright. I can tell he's not a friend of Nargles." Luna said, offering Harry an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I'll bring a different paper next time." she assured him. Harry sighed and stood up. "Don't apologize Luna, Draco's the one that should be saying sorry." he added, giving him a small glare. The veela could feel that his mate was upset, but it didn't change the fact that the girl was insane. "I won't be apologising." he told him softly. "I'm still a Slytherin. Sometimes your adopted Gryffindors are just too...odd." the blonde said, trying to put it nicely. Harry turned to him, feeling actually hurt now. "Luna is my friend. And she's helped me quite a few times. I owe her a lot and although some of her ideas are eccentric at least she doesn't just blindly follow everyone else like _your_ Slytherins." he started. The rest of the group had fallen quiet now and Seamus reached to tug Harry back down. "No. I'm not sitting back down. Why do you think we take turns sitting at both tables? At least I'm trying to get along with your friends. Pansy's not sane and Crabbe and Goyle attacked me numerous times even before the curse but I still manage to talk to them and it turns out that they're actually pretty decent!" he pointed out, his voice raising in volume now. "Your Slytherins are my Slytherins too...why can't it work the other way around too? Why do you have to be such a prat to Luna, who's actually one of my close friends." Harry told him, feeling genuinely hurt now. Draco could feel his emotions leaking over, and it made him feel a little guilty, though that still wasn't an excuse for how his mate was yelling at him. "Harry...just calm down. I'm not trying to insult your friends. I just don't think this Quibbler is very...valid." he tried. "You're overreacting...and she's a little more than just eccentric." Draco pointed out. Harry shook his head softly. "Maybe you could decide that after you've actually met her. I'm going to go see Hagrid." the Gryffindor decided, huffing and trudging out of the great hall. He hadn't even really eaten lunch. The day had gone from incredible to terrible in such a short time.

* * *

"I didn't mean to get him so upset." Draco sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Seamus rolled his eyes slightly. "He did have a point mate. Though we insult Slytherins every day so I can't say we're much better." he said. Fred and George gave a half shrug in response. Luna finished counting her rice grains, looking up at Draco after. "It's alright, what you said. Lots of people say those things. They just don't know what it's like to be different. Harry's different." she said with a smile, standing up and taking her rice before heading outside to eat it. Draco frowned slightly. Harry was different, and he'd gotten harassed quite a bit...for a long time by Draco. The blonde sighed as the guilty feeling settled in again, standing up too. "I'll go apologise to him." he decided.

* * *

Harry growled to himself again as he trudged through the forbidden forest. Hagrid was of course headed off to see Norbert and Harry had decided to tag along, though at a distance. He wasn't exactly mad at Draco anymore. After all, it had taken him a while to warm up to Luna, Draco was actually doing a bit better than most Gryffindors. "Stupid idiot veela" he sighed, looking up again. Well great, Hagrid had gotten so far ahead of him now. Oh well, he had come here mainly to get some air. He supposed that part had been accomplished.

Harry gasped as his vision suddenly blurred and pain flared up in his side. He didn't know what was happening, and when he opened his eyes it was like he was seeing out of someone else's. There was Voldemord's snake, rearing to strike again, and the person who's vision he was seeing was staggering to get up. A few scale like feathers fell to the ground in between droplets of blood. Red feathers. And then just as suddenly as it had come the vision was gone again, and Harry was left kneeling on the grass in panic. "Oh god. Draco." he gasped. The bond. It let them share emotions, thoughts...even sight. Draco was hurt. That thing was here and it had attacked his mate. "Focus, focus...where was he? What was around him?" he was whispering, trying to think of the surroundings. He'd been so focused on the snake he'd barely registered anything else. Wait. The forest. It was in a clearing. The one that they'd spoken to Aragog in during their second year.

As soon as he realized this he bolted up, starting into a dead run towards the clearing. He didn't care what was around him or what kind of plants he had to wade through, he just needed to get to Draco. Harry had completely forgotten about their argument that day.

"Please be okay." he panted, stumbling into the clearing, coming face to face with the snake.

* * *

Draco sighed in frustration as he found Hagrid's hut empty. He hated not knowing where his mate was, it made him uneasy. It was especially hard when the bond was so new. "He'd in danger. The Wackspurts told me. He's been tricked." a voice came from behind Draco, and he spun around to face Luna again. Where did this girl come from all the time. He started apologising before pausing, realizing what Luna had said. "Loon...Luna. I can't find Harry. What do you mean he's in danger...do you have any other reason to think that other than...Wackspurts." he asked her, trying to be careful not to insult her again. "I heard voices. They said they were setting a trap in the forest." Luna explained, picking up a flower from the ground and starting to examine it carefully. Draco frowned softly, closing his eyes. If he concentrated on it, he could usually at least find the right direction to get to Harry. He gasped softly as the veela inside him lurched possessively, tugging him to the forest. Luna was right. "This doesn't feel safe. Harry's not safe. I have to find him. Luna...thank you." he told her quickly, red wings unfurling behind him as he took off. He chose to fly high above the forest, trying to spot something from above. His eyes fell on one of the clearings and he used his magic to bring his sight closer. He spotted Harry first, then the snake.

* * *

Harry had run into the clearing, wand ready and already casting shield spells. The snake threw itself at him as soon as he ran in, but there was no sign of Draco. _'ssooo easssssy, tricked sssso sssoon. your mate isssssnt here...jusssst ussss.' _the snake hissed at him, and Harry felt his blood run cold. He had thought the vision felt a little off, but he had been so scared that Draco was hurt he barely thought before running here. Merlin he was in trouble now. He narrowly dodged the snake again, casting another hex at it to try to slow it down. Suddenly the snake shrieked, sending a pulse of magic out that knocked him back, his wand clattering out of his reach. Harry grunted in pain and scrambled to get up. There was no way he was going down this easy. Where was his want? He needed to find it, but looking around frantically he just caught sight of the snake, fangs barred, feet away from him and striking. He didn't even have time to blink before the snake hit, though when it did he was already thrown to the side by someone. "Draco!" Harry exclaimed as he caught sight of the familiar wings. There was a low growl that escaped the blonde, and as soon as Harry was safe the veela launched himself at the snake, his magic shredding the creature to pieces.

Draco panted heavily as the snake carcass fell to the ground, and he felt himself slide to his knees as pain flared up in his body, almost like it was flowing in from his arm. "Draco. Draco!" Harry was shouting, rushing to him and grabbing a hold of him. "You got bitten, you're hurt, let me see." the Gryffindor was saying, taking his arm to see the wound, shuddering. The bite mark looked gruesome, and there was blood and what he assumed was venom everywhere. "My wand, where the hell is my wand." he said, feeling panic rise up within him. Just then he heard the clatter of hooves approaching them, and he turned to see one of the thestrals riding in with Luna on its back. "Accio wand." Luna spoke softly, and from a puddle of mud Harry's wand came flying out. "Thank god, Luna" the boy gasped, scrambling to grab the wand as Draco slumped against him, his breathing getting slower and slower. "No, Draco stay awake. It's just venom you can fight this, I know you can. Stay awake." Harry screamed at the blonde, taking his arm and starting to perform any spells he knew that could rid a person of poison or cleanse a wound or blood. Nothing was working, and to Harry's horror the venom seemed almost drawn to the wound. Even from the snake's carcass nearby the venom was pooling on the ground before trickling to the bite mark and into Draco's blood. "No...no, no."Harry whispered, tears flowing unchecked over his cheeks. There was nothing he could do to stop the venom. "Draco look at me, I don't know what to do, Draco please." he whispered, holding his mate up. "As long...as you're...safe." the blonde breathed, his breath hitching as his liquid silver eyes started to taint with a murky red before the Slytherin fell unconscious.

"He won't die Harry." Luna told the sobbing boy, watching her friend cradle his mate in panic. "The poison wasn't meant to kill him." she said, and Harry raised his head slightly to gaze at her miserably. "What do you know about it, what can we do?" he was asking her. He had to do something. Anything. "Let's get him back." he suggested, and this time even Luna managed to look worried.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey had done all she could, but even her spells couldn't do anything against the venom. She had managed to identify the poison, and she brought over a potion she had prepared. Draco had been set down on one of the beds and Harry was sitting beside him, slinging to his hand. When they had rushed back they had gone past a few of their friends and now practically all of Harry's and Draco's friends were piled outside of the doors to the hospital wing, awaiting some news. Harry, however, barely noticed this, or anything else around him. It took Madam Pomfrey a few good shouts to get him to look up at her. "Harry. I can't get rid of the venom because it was cursed, the poison is laced with magic and it's binding to his blood. It's not meant to kill him though." she said uncertainly. "I've only seen this once before, but it's quite powerful." she started explaining, and Harry teared up again. The mediwitch chose to continue, wanting to give the boy all of the information she had before she lost his attention again. "The curse takes any set of memories of the targeted person and traps it's victims in them. It was used a very long time ago as a torture method. If you knew your enemy's most painful experiences you could make them relive them over again." she told Harry softly. "There is no known way to break out."

Harry didn't hear anything else after that. His bloodshot eyes fell on Draco again and he felt himself start crying anew. The snake had been targeting him, not Draco. If he hadn't been so stupid...if he hadn't run off before noticing the vision was fakes. Then Draco might be awake right now, with him. It was him Voldemord wanted, so the memories that were laced into the venom were probably some of Harry's most horrible. And now Draco was being forced to live through them. Harry would give anything to switch places with his mate. Anything to have Draco back.

* * *

"Well...come on boy. Clean this up." a short, portly man shouted. Draco groaned in pain as he scrambled up from the ground. Everything around him felt so...wrong...so unfamiliar. "I said clean!" the man shouted, and Draco was startled out of his thoughts as he watched the man grab a young boy, shoving him roughly towards the kitchen by his shoulder. The Slytherin hissed as pain flared in his own shoulder, and he stared dumbfounded from himself to the boy. The child was so small and scrawny, with clothes too large for him and broken glasses. Any child would have started crying when treated like this, but this boy just started cleaning, yelping when he burned his hand on one of the hot pans. Draco hissed too as his own hand burned, and he gazed at his reddening palm. Then he caught a proper look at the boy, and those eyes were unmistakable. "Harry?" he whispered softly. It didn't seem like the boy could hear him, and before he could approach him everything changed again.

This was Hogwarts now, bustling with students, and he was in an office strewn with cat photographs and pink wallpaper. He recognized Umbridge at her desk, and Harry sitting off to the side of her office, writing quietly. He groaned in pain and stared in disbelief at the back of his hand as words started appearing on it. When he looked over at Harry he could see the Gryffindor was suffering the same fate. "Harry. What's happening. Where are we? Why won't you answer me. Can't you hear me?" he started, stumbling as his surroundings changed again.

Pain. Everywhere. This was different. He could see Harry lying on a shabby bed, looking terrible. There were news papers strewn across the tiny room, and he caught one of the headlines. The department of ministries had been broken into, Harry Potter...wait...was this perhaps the summer after Harry had lost Sirius? The same portly man from earlier burst into the room, yelling at him about leaving things of magic around, spitting profanities. If this was the summer, then Harry lived...here? And this must be one of the muggles...but that couldn't be, Harry was treated like royalty wasn't he? All the Slytherins believed so...

The man picked up a heavy book and threw it viciously at Harry and Draco growled menacingly as he reached to catch the book, hissing when the object passed straight through him almost like he was a ghost. What was going on? He didn't have any time to think as the man fumbled past him, grabbing Harry and throwing him roughly to the ground. "I'll stomp the magic right out of you." the man was yelling, pinning him down and crushing him to the filthy floor. "Don't you dare. Get away-" Draco started yelling, giving a frustrated groan as everything around him changed yet again. How many times was this going to happen. When he realized where he was, he wished he could go back to the previous scene. "No." he whispered as he watched Harry throw himself to the veil in front of him. Someone was holding him back as he struggled and Draco had never seen Harry so hurt. It was like watching his mate be tortured in front of him. He couldn't take this. Harry's screams and sobs, the pain that he felt wracking through his own body. "Stop. Enough." Draco was saying, closing his eyes to try to block out the scene. it didn't work though, even behind his eyelids he could still see everything clear as day. Why was this happening? He felt so helpless.

The scene changed again as Draco's stomach heaved as he recognized the maze from the Triwizard tournament. This was just getting worse.

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AN: Yes, it's been a while, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hear how you feel about this little twist ;) Muffins people...muffins...


	21. We fight as one

**AN**: Hello all. Yes, surprising I'm alive isn't it? I'm ridonkulously busy so I will continue writing this fic until it's done, even if there are mistakes and such throughout the earlier chapters. That doesn't mean I don't read your feedback or take it into account! As I said I am planning on rewriting this once I'm done and making it all sleep and purdy, but for now I will get the rest of the chapters out so we can have ourselves a nice and complete fic. I like your feedback and I like hearing about how you guys feel about the story!

* * *

It had been quite some time since they had arrived at the hospital wing, yet Harry had barely moved an inch. He had been sitting next to the bed on which Draco laid for days on end now. Hermione had brought him homework from all of his classes for the first few days, but after seeing what state Harry was in she started just doing the work for him. Ron, although jealous that she refused to even help with his own homework, didn't complain about this. They both visited Harry and Draco regularly, though when they did the Gryffindor barely spoke and Draco's state remained unchanged. That wasn't to say that Harry was doing nothing. He spent every waking moment trying to think of a way to bring Draco back, and whenever he found an idea that seemed promising he'd tell Hermione straight away. She had a knack for finding information the quickest, and Harry felt he couldn't leave his mate's side anyway. It was frustrating to see her come up empty every time, and he had to fight hard to remember not to take out his disappointment on her. He was waiting for her to look another potion up, though he was starting to feel the disappointment of having failed again before she even returned with the news. There had to be a way. There just had to be.

"Harry" Hermione started, approaching him slowly and sitting beside him. "Anything?" he whispered, his voice hoarse, eyes turning slowly on to her. He watched her shake her head, then turned his gaze back to the blonde whose hand he had kept a constant grip on. "Harry. I'm not sure we might ever find a cure for this poison." she started slowly. She had tried so hard to find something, but there was nothing anywhere about treating something like this. " not poison" Harry mumbled under his breath, barely hearing himself. "What?" Hermione questioned, eying him with a confused expression. The boy didn't answer, and Hermione sighed and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, drawing Harry's attention back. "You said it's not a poison. What do you mean? Can you feel it through your bond?" she asked. She had looked up all kinds of antidotes, but not how they affected a life bond. Maybe there would be a clue there. Harry was looking at her with a half dumbfounded, half exhausted gaze. "Did I say that? I can't...remember. I can't remember much." he sighed. "No wonder. Harry, you've been awake for days. You need sleep. You're no good to him if you can't even walk." she suggested. Harry shook his head slowly. "I'm no good at all right now." he added quietly. The girl beside him bristled at the comment. "Don't you dare tell me you've given up." she hissed, willing to start hitting some sense into him soon. It wasn't as if she'd been sitting pretty all this time either. Harry responded with a small but much more lively glare. "I will never give up on him." he told her, determined. Hermione nodded her approval, offering him a small comforting smile. "Good. Now tell me about the poison. You said something odd before."

It was another while before Harry answered her. He heard her question, but he had to figure it out for himself before being able to explain it to her. "He's just...so fragile. I can feel the bond straining more and more, and there's nothing I can do. But, I feel it's being pulled apart from two sides. And it just...the poison can only be one." he sighed. "I've been trying to figure it out. He's...he's slipping away." he heard himself say, though he refused to believe it. "He's being pulled away from me, but I can feel him less clearly too. It's like...a fog, that's shrouding him. And it's been growing. Every time I try to use our bond to get closer to him, it changes. Like it's alive, like it's mocking me...showing me I can't get him back." Harry mumbled, gritting his teeth at the last words. "I heard the snake when we first got to the hospital wing. I think it's still alive. Inside of him." Harry whispered, his hand tightening slightly around Draco's pale one. "Wait. Harry, that can't be right. It's a medium. Even if it's still alive, if it loses its body it's no longer a medium. It couldn't have talked to you. It's body was destroyed in the forest." she reasoned. Hermione sighed softly. It didn't make much sense. "I'll keep searching, keep an eye on him." she told Harry, though she knew the boy wouldn't move while she was gone. When she left though, Harry's thoughts were whirring lightning fast. Hermione was right. It's body was destroyed and yet the snake had sounded exactly the same, with that high voice that could only be Voldemort's. It really did not make sense. Unless.

* * *

"But Moony!" Sirius growled, making to stand up again before being pulled back to the couch gently by Remus. "Sit down, it won't help getting worked up. We're all trying." he mumbled. Sirius sighed heavily. "But Harry's so sad. I wanna visit, what if he's worse, what if his mate is worse?" he reasoned, looking to his own mate for advice. "Siri, we went to visit just a few hours ago, I doubt much has changed. We're all trying to find an antidote for the poison, but it's slow work. We just have to keep at it. You can't let yourself go mad over it." Remus Lupin told him, his fingers gently combing through the others black hair. "I know. He just...Harry's...family. I don't want him so sad." he added, leaning his head against the werewolf. Remus nodded slowly, wrapping an arm around Sirius. He glanced up when there was a knock on the door, and he just called to the portrait to let them in. They were sitting in the living room area of the chambers they now shared with Harry and Draco, and the sofas around the coffee table had become a prime place to come to. Hermione and Ron appeared through the portrait, looking rather passive as they settled on a sofa across from the two men. "I suppose this is where we all hang out now, when we don't have a clue what to do." Ron mumbled. He had been in a very sour mood since Draco had gotten injured. The moment Ron had finally come to his senses, Harry went and got himself hurt. Now, Ron was hurting for him...and his mate, though he wouldn't admit it to himself. Both of them were important to him.

"I suppose so." Remus agreed. "It's not a bad thing to rest for a moment though. If we can clear our minds, we'll be better off when we get the next lead on how to get rid of this poison." he assured the rest of them. Hermione nodded silently and started making tea for the four of them, a habit she'd picked up lately. The four of them chatted for a long while, though not always about the poison. They were all exhausted and worried, and it felt very relieving to have someone else to talk to who understand just how frustrating this felt like. They all needed rest, both for their bodies and their minds. It helped being in a place where no one else would think worse of them for feeling like they needed to take a break. None of them really knew how Harry was managing this, clinging to the bond and fighting the poison for so long without even an hour's rest.

* * *

Harry moved slowly, because he knew as soon as he was done he would have to leave Draco, and he couldn't bring himself to do so yet. His fingers took a long moment to release from the blonde's and then he slowly reached to the thin silver chain around his neck, pulling it over his head. The carved sapphire snake hung from it, glinting in the light reflected from a number of candles by the bed. Draco had given him this for Christmas, and Harry treasured it dearly. He let the pendant fall into his palm, inspecting it silently. "Help him find his way home." he told the gem. Harry held it for a moment before opening Draco's palm, placing the gem gently there and closing Draco's fingers around it. He took one last deep breath before standing up, leaning over the blonde and placing a soft kiss to his temple. "I will never leave you, and I will never give up on you." he told him before standing again, turning, and heading out of the hospital wing. He walked quickly without paying attention to the corridors, he knew his legs would take him where he needed to go. His mind was occupied with plans. How to face him, how to fight, what to say. The wand he owned was clutched tightly in his fingers, already prepared before he even reached the empty bathroom. He stood in front of the sink, hissing at it to open and watching it shudder and groan. It disappeared into the ground to reveal a narrow tunnel, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Harry disappeared into it without looking back.

* * *

It was funny, how much the Chamber had changed since his second year. Or rather, how much he had changed. When he first entered this cavernous place, every step felt like it would be his doom. The crunch of the bones he stepped on seemed so loud that the teachers in the staff room upstairs would be able to hear, let alone the basilisk. Now, it seemed almost pathetically quiet. He heard his own footsteps as he made his way to the hall where the statue of Salazar Slytherin resided, but he didn't mind them. In fact, he wanted to be heard. He wanted it to hear him, see him, know just what hit it when Harry would tear it apart. It felt as if it took far too long to reach the main chamber, but when he did he was hardly surprised by what he found inside. His eyes drifted coldly from the ornate pillars carved with snakes, along the marbled floor walkway to the figure by the statue.

"So." a voice drawled, amused. "You've found me. Bravo. That was quite quick, I must say. I expected you to whimper and cry over your lost animal much longer." the man told Harry. Harry kept his expression blank, though he could feel a muscle going in his cheek when Riddle referred to his mate as an animal. It was odd, how both times he was in this chamber, he was facing Tom Riddle. Tom looked infuriatingly familiar. He was dressed in the same sort of gray suit and tie, had the same unruly black hair and wore the same condescending expression. "How did you know it was me?" Riddle asked, though raising his wand already.

"I felt Draco slipping away, and all it reminded me of was how Ginny was slipping away while you were getting stronger the last time I was here. You caused all of this, didn't you? You are the medium...not the snake." Harry guessed, though he knew by Riddle's expression that he was right. "Correct." Riddle's voice drawled. "How very observant of you.

Harry raised his own wand, frowning slightly. "I do have one question for you though, before I fight you. Your soul was once in the snake, wasn't it? You are one of the horcruxes." he said, the last comment more a statement than a question. The smoky image of Tom Riddle before him holding a translucent wand looking much younger than he'd seen Voldemort use...it could hardly be anything but a horcrux he was speaking to.

"Yes." Riddle answered with a smile, though it was ice cold. "Nagini was the home for my soul for so long, until that veela ripped it apart. It was a good companion, but no matter. I cannot be destroyed so easily. Perhaps the snake has been lost, but I found a new home here. This chamber has always been mine, and I've found my soul is quite comfortable here. Does it hurt? To know you can't defeat me? That I will destroy you, starting with what is most dear to you." he chuckled quietly.

"I figured as much. This place always seemed like it should have been destroyed long ago. Figures the decision to leave it open would lead to another ruddy horcrux hanging around here causing hurt. But you've made a mistake, Riddle." Harry started, eyes fixed on the almost ghostly figure in front of him. Tom Riddle looked just like in his second year, and for a moment he wondered if all the horcruxes Voldemort made were living memories of him, of the part he most wanted to hide.

"Don't dare call me by that filthy muggle name." Riddle hissed in anger, raising his wand higher now. "I am Lord Voldemort, to you and to all." he declared, grimacing when Harry laughed.

"No, you aren't. You are Riddle. You aren't Voldemort, you're just a cast away piece of him, and a broken one at that. I will defeat you, and then I'll be one step closer to stopping the real thing. You are just a memory, one who's gone too far and one who I'll put an end to right now." Harry told him, all mercy gone from his voice. He wanted this to be over so badly, to be finally rid of the wizard that plagued the world he held dear.

"Really? And how will you do it? How will you vanquish me, Lord Voldemort. Perhaps with this mistake I've made. I assure you, I have done no such thing. I have carved away at you, taken away your strength and your happiness. I've left you miserable and alone and it is like this that I want to end you. I want you at my knees, begging me for mercy before I take your life." Riddle told him calmly, waving his wand once to close the stone hallway behind Harry, trapping him here.

* * *

Draco glanced at his palm, dumbfounded as to how the gem got there. One minute he was clenching his empty fists to keep from screaming as he saw Harry trapped in a graveyard with Voldemort, the next his fist was clenching around the pendant he'd given as a gift to his mate. It was warm and comforting. The scene in front of him lurched and changed again, but the pendant remained in his palm. It seemed to pulse, tugging him forward. He drew in a shaken breath, trying his hardest to ignore the new scene in front of him, starting to walk. Every once in a while, the pendant would shake and tug him in a different direction. He didn't feel like he was wandering aimlessly, but like he was approaching something. The closer he got, the harder the scenes were to ignore. It took everything he had not to turn around. He probably would have, had it not been for Harry. The closer he seemed to be getting, the more he felt Harry -the real Harry- and the more he felt his mate was in danger. He needed to fight through this, but it was getting harder and harder. Just a few more steps. There was a rift in the scenes before him, almost like an old muggle film was breaking. He sunk to his knees, panting as shadows from the world he was trapped in tried to pull him back. He could just take a moment, regain some strength. The pendant in his hand burned, and he hissed and wrenched open his palm. On the sapphire snake, blue glowing words appeared and he could almost hear Harry saying them. He smirked slightly, struggling to stand up and starting to step forward again, hand reaching for the rift. "Like I would give up on you." he hissed.

In a moment, he felt himself falling through the rift and the next time he opened his eyes everything was white. His first thought was that he died, and how stupid he must have been to walk towards the light and just kill himself. His next thought was that death looked strangely like the hospital wing.

* * *

"And that's your mistake." Harry shook his head. "You think that you can ruin me by hurting Draco? You think you've made me weak, and useless? You're wrong." he added, letting out an angry shout as he lashed out with his wand, sending a wave of red light towards the figure, who struggled to block it. "You're a twisted fool. First. I am not helpless. Even by myself, I am more of a challenge than you seem to think." he added, waving his wand again to send another curse at Riddle, dodging a few the figure retaliated with. "Second, I'm not by myself. You think that just because Draco's unconscious you've taken him away? You could never understand our bond. We're not just linked, were fused together. Our souls are intertwined." he was saying. He didn't know where the knowledge was coming from, but he knew instinctively it was true. "We are connected beyond what you can feel. One doesn't exist without the other anymore, that's what it means to choose our bond. Draco will always be with me and I with him. You can hurt one of us, but I still fight with the strength of both." Harry hissed, firing off another curse, moving through the room to dodge the wild curses directed at him.

Riddle was getting more and more uncontrolled, and he growled madly and he shouted at Harry to stay still. "Avada Kedavra." he was grunting over and over, trying to hit Harry with the curse. "You can't win against Lord Voldemort, I will kill you Potter!" he shrieked, and with his scream all of the carved stone snakes on the pillars shuddered to live and started to slither towards Harry.

"Us!" Harry spat out. "But you won't kill us. And you aren't Voldemort. You're a memory, and one I'm going to step on to get to the real thing." he yelled out bitterly, his arm raised above his head. His wand traced a wide circle in the air around him and he muttered words he couldn't recognize, but that sounded close to the language Draco had used to speak to the dragons. Fire burst from his wand and pulsed from him in a wave, destroying everything in its path as it headed for the memory of Tom Riddle. He heard Riddle shriek before he was consumed by the flame. Harry only had a moment to register that before he noted that the entire chamber was engulfed in a wall of flames. It was shuddering and falling apart and Harry had no choice but to turn and run straight towards the fire blocking the doorway.

* * *

Draco didn't know where he was running to, only that he was nearing where Harry was. At some point, he must have run past one of their friends because they were all running after him now. He barely had time to notice them, however. His only thought was that he needed to get to his mate. The bond felt so strained that it made the veela fear it may break. He must have been unconscious for so long. He turned and ran down a different corridor, heading for moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Behind him Hermione, Remus, Sirius and Ron were struggling to catch up, all panicked and all with their wands drawn and ready.

Harry clambered through the entrance of the chamber, glancing up and glimpsing his blonde mate heading towards him through the open door. He scrambled to his feet and ran to met him, wrapping his arms around the Slytherin and hiding his face in the crook of his neck. They were both too exhausted to stand, and they sunk to their knees together as the bond started to repair its self.

"Harry!" both Hermione and Sirius shouted at once, gathering around the two. Remus and Ron checked over the bathroom quickly to make sure Harry hadn't been followed before joining the rest.

"We got another horcrux." Harry mumbled after a while, still breathing heavily, almost drunk on the blissful feeling of being in his mate's arms again. "Oh Harry..." Hermione said, realizing now what Harry had fought and how hard it must have been. "It's over now. He won't take us apart. And I'll die before I let that monstrous excuse for a wizard near you again." the dragon veela growled quietly. Harry sighed and opened his eyes. He caught a glimpse of the red wings, and he realized Draco must have flown part of the way from the hospital wing to get to him faster. He tightened his hold on his mate, drawing in a shaky breath. "Let's go back to our rooms. I have to tell you about the prophecy. I want you all to hear it, and now." he mumbled.

* * *

It took them a while to get back. Their bond still felt so fragile that Harry and Draco walked as close together as possible, not wanting to let go of each other. The other four were glancing amongst themselves, an uneasy feeling seeping over the joy they had felt just moments ago at seeing the two alive. When they reached their rooms, all settled on the sofas while Harry and Draco curled onto one arm chair, still intertwined. "Tell me." Draco asked his mate, gently but determined.

"The rumors are true. I am the chosen one. Voldemort can send his death eaters after me to hurt the people I care about, and to hurt me. But they won't kill me. In the end, it has to be him. In the end...either I kill him...or he kills me. In the end, I'm alone." he mumbled, closing his eyes again. He didn't want to see the others expressions as he told them this. They were all quiet. Even Sirius didn't have any words. "We...suspected something like that. But to have it confirmed...oh Harry." Hermione was saying, reaching out to hold Ron's hand. "You won't have to go alone mate." Ron told him. "Maybe the stupid prophecy said the last blow has to be you, but that doesn't mean we can't help. We'll all be there for you." he told him, and Hermione gave him a watery smile. Remus was the first one to stand up.

"Harry." Remus began. "Thank you for confiding in us. You know we all will do everything we can to help you." he said softly before turning to the other three on the couch. "Let's go. This prophecy will still be there tomorrow but look at them. They're exhausted, they need to rest and they need their bond to heal. We can give them some room to breathe for now." he told them gently, ushering them slowly out of the room. They all said their goodbyes, but Harry didn't answer them. He only spoke again after the last of them had gone thought the portrait. "I will be alone, in the end." he sighed. He'd known that for some time now.

Draco sighed and reached over to tilt Harry's chin up, locking gazes with him. "Like I'd abandon you." he mumbled with a small huff, placing a soft kiss to his lips. "If you have to face him and kill him, then I have to face him and kill him. With the bond we are one." he told him softly, reassuringly, capturing his lips in another kiss. "That monster won't get the better of us. I will fight by your side." he promised. "And I by yours." Harry answered, lacing his fingers with his mate's with a small sigh and resting his head against the blonde's chest.

"For now, we will write our exams, I will go with you to those pathetic muggles you're forced to stay with for the few weeks necessary, then we'll spend the summer enjoying ourselves, properly." Draco told him with a small chuckle. "We both need a break. And then, when the summer ends...I suppose we'll just have to fight him head on. But on our own terms. And we'll finally be rid of him." he promised.

"That...actually sounds pretty good." Harry added, managing a smile. "I want a break, and a happy summer." he mumbled, for the first time not scared of having to go back to the Dursleys.

"Oh, and Draco?" Harry mumbled. "Yes love?" the Slytherin answered. "You were right. If it comes from you, I am fire-proof." he chuckled softly, exhausted enough that he fell asleep not long after.


End file.
